Beirut, July 23, 2010

Press Release
Hamas’s Security summons the novelist Atef Abu Seif, detains him and
severely assaults him

Gaza - A SKeyes Special Report

On Wednesday, July 21, 2010, the writer and novelist Atef Abu Seif was severely beaten
on his back, chest and neck, by a member of the Internal Security service affiliated with
the dismissed government of Hamas in Gaza, who used his fists. As a result, Abu Seif
suffered sharp pains and bruises and contusions, and was detained for several hours in a
cell (which was a small dirty toilet).
The security service had sent a summons to his family’s house in the Jabalya camp on
Tuesday, July 20. Abu Seif hence came on Wednesday morning to the service’s
headquarters, as he has become accustomed to do in recent years.However, upon arriving,
he was suddenly blindfolded at the headquarters’ gates. He was then taken inside, and
placed temporarily in a cell for half an hour. He was then taken to the backyard, and was
ordered to stand in line with other detainees, while each of them was ordered to place his
hands on the shoulders of the one in front. They were each assigned a number to be called
with instead of their names. A security officer assaulted the detainee standing behind Abu
Seif, and ordered the latter to deliberately laugh at him. At that point, Abu seif refused
this and said, “That is not what my ethics tell me, or the ethics of any Muslim”. He was
then attacked by the officer and severely beaten all over his body, especially his back,
chest and neck, causing him sharp pains and bruises and contusions. The writer, who was
interviewed by SKeyes’s correspondent, continues to suffer sharp pain, and cannot
properly sit even at present.
After he was assaulted, he was subsequently placed in a holding cell (a small 3x1 meter
dirty toilet with a sanitary hole in the ground covered with a piece of cloth). He was given
two loafs of bread and a piece of yellow cheese at four o’clock. He was kept alone until
nine o’clock at night, when they opened the cell and handed him a new notice to present
himself on the morning of Thursday and to bring four passport pictures, and then released
him without interrogating him.
On Thursday morning, Abu Seif returned to the headquarters. Upon entering, he was not
blindfolded, but was instead taken directly to the toilet cell where they blindfolded him
before detaining him there. An hour later, two more detainees were placed in his cell. He
remained there from eight o’clock in the morning until eleven. He was then released and
given a new notice to come on Monday at eleven o’clock.
It should be mentioned here that this is not the first time that Dr. Atef Abu Seif has been
summoned, the novelist and political commentator who publishes a column each Monday
in Al-Ayyam. He was previously detained several times in the course of four years in
which he was badly treated. Nevertheless, this was the first time that he was physically

Samir Kassir Foundation, Aref Saghieh Bldg.( Ground Floor), 63, Zahrani St., Sioufi, Achrafieh, Beirut, Lebanon
Tel /Fax: 00961 1 397334, Mobile: 00961 3 372717, E-Mail Address: info@skeyesmedia.org
assaulted. He was also previously banned from travelling after his name was placed on
the list of individuals prohibited from travelling. On the first of July, the Internal Security
Service delivered a summons to his family’s home, ordering him to go to the service’s
headquarters, and to bring his passport with him. Abu Seif complied and handed the
service his passport, along with others who were summoned and did the same. This took
place on the pretext that there is a political decision ordering this. To date, his passport
remains in the Internal Security service’s possession.
The SKeyes Centre for Media and Cultural Freedom strongly denounces the detention of
writers and journalists in this way, deplores any physical assault against them, their
repeated summonses without any legal prerogative, and their detention in inhumane
conditions. SKeyes also condemns withholding their passports, and calls on the political
officials in the Gaza Strip to investigate these violations, reveal their circumstances and
order the security officials to put an end to these practices and abuses immediately. What
has happened and what continues to happen in this context is unacceptable under any
circumstances, and it first and foremost damages Hamas’s reputation and image to the
public, both locally and internationally.

Samir Kassir Foundation, Aref Saghieh Bldg.( Ground Floor), 63, Zahrani St., Sioufi, Achrafieh, Beirut, Lebanon
Tel /Fax: 00961 1 397334, Mobile: 00961 3 372717, E-Mail Address: info@skeyesmedia.org