The number of Palestinian administrative detainees being held by Israel has seen a significant spike, according to a report published by Israeli human rights group HaMoked. Around 1,201 Palestinians are currently in illegal administrative detention in Israel – the highest ever number in the last 34 years. This number has seen a steady increase since the current Benjamin Netanyahu government – considered by many to be the most far-right extremist government in Israel’s history – came to power.
According to HaMoked, 99% of those being detained under the policy are Palestinians. Israeli authorities have labeled them as “dangerous militants” and justified their detention based on secret evidence which is not shared with them or their lawyers. The detainees are officially not charged with any specific crime or tried before a court of law. The detention orders extend for periods between three to six months and can be indefinitely renewed. Detainees have often been kept in prison for extended periods, in some cases several years, without any legal or other recourse.
Speaking to news outlets, executive director of Hamoked, Jessica Montell, said that the “overall figure is outrageous. This is a patently illegal practice. These people should be given a fair trial or released. Administrative detention is supposed to be an extremely unusual step, but Israel makes extensive use of it towards Palestinians. In the last year, the number more than doubled.”
According to Montell, one of the factors leading to the spike in numbers is the increased and organized Palestinian resistance to the Israeli occupation. Recent judicial reforms in Israel which reduced the judiciary’s powers have also contributed to the government significantly escalating its oppressive and violent policies against Palestinians.
Montell revealed that in March last year, the number of administrative detainees in Israel was 470, compared to 1,017, including 10 minors, in March this year. The highest previous figure was 1,140 in April 2003. She claimed that in addition to the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, the policy was increasingly being used inside Israel.
Despite repeated appeals and condemnation from rights groups, the UN, and the international community, the Israeli government continues to use this primitive British-era policy to persecute and imprison Palestinians in violation of international law, prisoners’ rights, and the human rights conventions governing the treatment of prisoners.
