RAMALLAH, October 25, 2015 (WAFA) – Israeli authorities Sunday issued administrative detention orders without charge or trial against 27 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club (PPC).

PPC said most of the 27 prisoners received detention orders for the first time, an indication to a sharp increase in detaining Palestinians, without charge or trial, since the beginning of October 2015.

Administrative detention is a procedure that allows the Israeli military to hold prisoners indefinitely on secret information without charging them or allowing them to stand trial.

Israel routinely uses administrative detention against Palestinians; statistics show that over the years, thousands of Palestinians have been held in Israeli custody as administrative detainees for extended periods of time.

The Israel human rights group B’Tselem said, “International law stipulates that [administrative detention] 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.”

“Israel's use of administrative detention blatantly violates the restrictions of international law. Israel carries it out in a highly classified manner that denies detainees the possibility of mounting a proper defense.”

In April 2015, the United Nations Human Rights Office (OHCHR) expressed concern due to the continued and increasing use of administrative detention by Israeli authorities against Palestinians.

The Israeli practice of administrative detention has been condemned on numerous occasions by the UN Human Rights Office and the Human Rights Committee that oversees implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Israel has ratified.

OHCHR has at times called on Israel to end its practice of administrative detention and “to either release without delay or to promptly charge all administrative detainees and prosecute them with all the judicial guarantees required by international human rights law.”

Following are the names of the 27 detainees who received administrative detention orders:

M.N/M.H