E/CN.4/2000/9 page 126 that during his investigation by the SLA, Ali Mustafa Tawbeh made a number of admissions, including but not limited to the following: that he had undertaken acts of espionage, terror and incitement to violence against the region and its inhabitants and had collected information against Israeli and SLA forces, that he conveyed this information to the so-called "Hizbullah" and that he had approached leaders of the so-called "Hizbullah" to express his readiness to act as a suicide bomber against Israeli targets in southern Lebanon. 642. On 10 February 1999, the Special Rapporteur sent an urgent appeal on behalf of Jihad Husni Mohammed Shehadeh, who had reportedly been arrested in August 1997, under an administrative detention order, for his alleged links to Hamas. Since then, he had reportedly been detained without charge or trial. He had been under interrogation by members of the Israel's General Security Service (GSS) since 7 February 1999, when he had been transferred from prison to the Hasharon interrogation centre. He was allegedly kept hooded, his legs and hands being tied to a chair in an uncomfortable position, with loud music playing, from the afternoon of 7 February until the following morning, when he was taken to meet his lawyer. 643. On 1 March 1999, the Special Rapporteur sent an urgent appeal on behalf of Issa Ali Batat, a Palestinian from Dhahariya, south-west Hebron. He had reportedly been arrested on 22 February 1999 by the (GSS) and was said to be currently held incommunicado at Shikma prison in Ashkelon. Assurances sought by his lawyer from the Attorney General's Office that no physical force is used during his interrogation had reportedly been refused and an appeal to the Israeli High Court for an interim injunction forbidding the use of physical force had also been turned down. Issa Ali Batat had reportedly been arrested in an attempt to find out the whereabouts of his brother, who was reportedly wanted by the GSS. 644. The Government replied on 23 July 1999 that Issa Ali Batat was arrested on 22 February 1999 by the GSS on suspicion that he was engaged in terrorist activity that presented a real danger to public safety and regional security. The Government further stated that subsequent to the GSS investigation, he was charged with several serious offences including buying and supplying weapons and ammunition for use in terrorist activity, harbouring terrorists who have carried out bombings against civilian targets and supplying money for the purpose of terrorist activity. The Government informed the Special Rapporteur that, on 10 May 1999, the Supreme Court sitting as the High Court of Justice heard a petition on behalf of Issa Ali Batat, who claimed that he was mistreated by the GSS. After hearing his lawyer and reviewing the evidence in the case, including secret evidence, the court rejected his petition, but stated that it would consider some of the points of law raised, including the question of the use of physical force in investigations, in conjunction with another similar case. The Government advised that these cases were still pending. A September 1998 background paper on "Hamas" was transmitted to the Special Rapporteur with the reply. 645. On 10 March 1999, the Special Rapporteur sent a joint urgent appeal with the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, on behalf of Munah Hassan Awad Barhasin, a Palestinian woman, who had reportedly been arrested on 15 February 1999 and detained at the GSS Interrogation Unit of the Kishon Detention Center, where she had allegedly been forced into the shabeh position for long periods. She was reportedly on a hunger strike. At a military hearing held on 2 March 1999, her remand had reportedly been extended for