Below is the full report by the
Ministry of Information:
Administrative detention is a
detention without charge or trial that is authorized by administrative order
rather than by judicial decree.
Although under international law, it
is allowed under certain circumstances. However, because of the serious injury
to due-process rights inherent in this measure and the obvious danger of its
abuse, international law has placed rigid restrictions on its application a
matter that Israel ignores and violates.
According to international law,
administrative detention can be used only in the most exceptional cases, as the
last means available to preventing danger that cannot be thwarted by less
harmful means. Yet Israel uses this form of collective punishment
systematically.
On April, 24th,
administrative Prisoners started an open hunger strike which continues until
this moment calling to revoke Administrative detention, since there are
prisoners who have been detained for more than five years. There are still 150
prisoners on hunger strike facing critical health conditions, without any kind
of understanding from the Israeli side regardless of the prisoners’ basic human
needs.
Israel's use of administrative
detention blatantly violates the restrictions of international law. This kind
of detention denies Palestinian prisoners the possibility of mounting a proper
defense and moreover it has no upper time limit.
Over the years, Israel has placed
thousands of Palestinians in administrative detention for prolonged periods of
time, keeping them in jails without trials, without informing them of the
charges against them, and without allowing them or their attorneys to examine
the evidence.
In this way, the occupation 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.
As of the end of June 2012, Israel
has detained more than 285 Palestinians in administrative detention.
Over the years, Israel has held
thousands of Palestinians in administrative detention, for periods ranging from
several months to several years. The highest number of administrative detainees
was documented during the first intifada. On November 5th, 1989,
Israel was holding 1,794 Palestinians in administrative detention. In the early
and mid-1990s, the number of administrative detainees ranged from 100 to 350 at
any given moment. On December 13th, 2000, two and a half months
after the second intifada erupted, Israel held 12 Palestinians in
administrative detention. In March 2002, the number stood at 44.
Three pieces of
legislation enable Israel to hold Palestinians in administrative detention:
1.
Articles 284-294 of the Order
regarding Security Provisions [Consolidated Version] (Judea and Samaria) (No.
1651), 5770-2009, which is part of the military legislation in the West Bank.
Most administrative detainees are held under individual detention orders issued
pursuant to this order.
2.
The Emergency Powers (Detentions)
Law, which applies in Israel and replaced the administrative-detention
arrangement established in the Emergency Regulations of the Mandate period. It
is rare for residents of the Occupied Territories to be administratively
detained under this law.
3.
The Internment of Unlawful Combatants
Law, which came into force in 2002. Originally, the law was intended to enable
the holding of Lebanese citizens who were being held in Israel at the time as
“bargaining chips” for the return of captives and bodies. Now, Israel uses the
law to detain without trial Palestinian residents in Gaza Strip, where the
military legislation was implemented following the “disengagement” plan, in
September 2005.
M.N./T.R.
