Administrative Detention Orders Issued to 22 More Palestinians

Israeli authorities, on Tuesday, issued administrative detention orders to 22 more Palestinians held in Israeli jails for different periods of time, ranging between three to six months, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS).PPS said, in a statement, that 17 prisoners have had their administrative detention renewed for the second and third time, while the remaining five received new orders.

Up to this day, there are some 500 administrative detention detainees, 18 of whom are members of the Palestinian legislative council.

Four detainees had been in administrative detention continuously for over two years.

WAFA further reports that, earlier Tuesday, a total of 12 administrative detainees, held in Israeli jails without charge or trial, decided to boycott Israeli military courts in an effort to protest their illegal detention without charge or trial.

On December 21, similar orders were issued to 33 prisoners, of whom 20 inmates had their administrative detention renewed for the second and third time.

Meanwhile, on January 14, Israeli authorities renewed orders for 30 other prisoners who have previously received a number of similar orders. Six more received new detention orders.

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

“In June and July 2014, over the course of Operation Brother’s Keeper, the military issued some 250 new administrative detention orders; at the end of August 2014, Israel was holding some 473 detainees in administrative detention – the highest number since April 2009. Within one year, the number of detainees had more than tripled,” UN Relief Web stated.

Israeli information center for human rights, B’Tselem, stressed: ‘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.”

In the case of Palestinian detainees, Israel routinely employs this archaic policy (dating back to the days of British Mandate Palsetine) 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 following names are those of the 22 detainees who received the orders:

Mahmoud Badir Ikhlil
Hebron
Six months

Hani Ghazi Shalash
Hebron
Six months