Israel issues administrative detention orders against 24 Palestinians

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

Sunday 08 Nov 2015 - 13:12 Makkah mean time-26-1-1437 (Image from Shutterstock) Ramallah, (IINA) - The Israeli authorities issued on Wednesday administrative detention orders against 24 Palestinian detainees, including a woman, by sending them to jail without a trial, WAFA reported. Palestinian Prisoner's Club (PPC) lawyer Mahmoud al-Halabi said that administrative detention orders were issued against 15 new detainees, whereas the remaining nine received renewal orders. Administrative detention is implemented solely on the basis of an administrative order, without either charge nor trial. Under certain circumstances, this type of arrest may be lawful. However, due to the substantial injury to due process inherent in this measure, international law stipulates that it may be exercised only in very exceptional cases – and then only as a last possible resort, when there are no other means available to prevent the danger. Nevertheless, Israeli authorities routinely employ administrative detention. Over the years, thousands of Palestinians have been held in Israeli custody as administrative detainees for extended periods of time. According to B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights information center, “Israel's use of administrative detention blatantly violates the restrictions of international law. Israel carries it out in an extremely classified manner that denies detainees the possibility of mounting a proper defense”. It added: “Moreover, the detention has no upper time limit. Over the years, Israel has placed thousands of Palestinians in administrative detention for prolonged periods of time, without trying them, without informing them of the charges against them, and without allowing them or their counsel to examine the evidence”. “In this way, the military judicial system ignores the right to freedom and due process, the right of defendants to state their case, and the presumption of innocence, all of which are protections clearly enshrined in both Israeli and international law”, stated B’Tselem. It said: “As of the end of July 2014, Israel was holding about 446 Palestinians in administrative detention.” AG/IINA