ADDAMEER Fact Sheet Palestinians detained by Israel ADMINISTRATIVE DETENTION IN THE OPT:

Contents 2 The Facts International Law Case Studies The ‘Stop Administrative Detention’ Addameer Campaign What you can do to help

Administrative Detention: The Facts 1.Administrative detention is a procedure under which detainees are held without charge or trial 2.Administrative detention is based on ‘secret information’ brought forward to the military judge, to which neither the detainee nor his/her lawyer have access to. 3

3.Administrative detention is indefinitely renewable under Israeli military regulations. A detainee may be given an administrative detention order for a period of between 1 – 6 months, after which the order may be renewed again. 4.Israel’s practice of administrative detention does not meet international standards which says that it should only be used as a last resort and cannot be used as a substitute for prosecution. 4 Administrative Detention: The Facts

As of February 2012, administrative detainees are being held in Israeli prisons and detentions centers, including 1 woman and 24 PLC members.

6 Administrative Detention: International Law The key legal instruments that regulate administrative detention in the occupied Palestinian territory are: 1.The Fourth Geneva Convention (1949) 2.Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Convention (1977) 3.Regulations annexed to the Hague Convention No. IV (“The Hague Regulations 1907”) 4.The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) 5.The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966) 6.The Convention on the Rights of the Child (1990)

7 Administrative Detention: International Law Article 42 and 78 of the Fourth Geneva Convention permit administrative detention only ‘If the security of the Detaining Power makes it absolutely necessary’ or for ‘Imperative reasons of security’. Israel’s use of administrative detention deliberately infringes this requirement as it often uses administrative detention as punishment rather than security.

8 Administrative Detention: International Law Below are the main rights of administrative detainees under Fourth Geneva Convention: 1.Prohibition against torture (mental and physical), mutilations and cruel treatment 2.Prohibition against reprisals and collective punishments 3.Prohibition against deportations and transfer of civilians in and out of the occupied territory 4.Prohibition against outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment R o u t i n e l y v i o l a t e d

9 Administrative Detention: International Law Legal Procedure: 1.Any person detained shall be informed promptly of the reasons for their detention 2.The accused person shall have the right to present evidence necessary to their defense and may, in particular, call witnesses. They shall have the right to be assisted by a qualified advocate or counsel of their own choice, who shall be able to visit them freely and shall enjoy the necessary facilities for preparing the defense 3.The right to be released by the Occupying Power as soon as the reasons for the detention cease to exist R o u t i n e l y d e n i e d

10 Administrative Detention: International Law Conditions of detention: 1.The Occupying Power must maintain detainees at its own expense and must provide for the detainees’ state of health 2.The Occupying Power must provide support for those dependent on the detainee 3.Detainees must be held separately from persons detained for any other reason, such as persons convicted of criminal offenses 4.The Occupying Power must intern detainees in adequate accommodation in regards to health, hygiene and the rigours of the climate 5.The Occupying Power must provide the detainees with sufficient food to maintain their health 6.Detainees must be provided with premises suitable for the holding of their religious services R o u t i n e l y v i o l a t e d

Conditions of Detention Administrative detainees are held in overcrowded, poorly ventilated prison cells and tents that are often threadbare and do not provide for adequate shelter against extreme weather. Detainees are not provided adequate food rations, neither in quantity nor quality. There are no special dietary considerations made for detainees who suffer chronic illnesses such as diabetes or high blood pressure. Detainees are not provided with clean clothes or adequate cleaning supplies. Detention conditions in Israeli prisons are appalling:

12 Case Study 1: A prisoner of conscience ALI JARADAT Date of Birth: 3 July 1955 Occupation: Journalist/Writer Place of Detention: Ofer Date of Arrest:22 April 2008 Date of Release: 1 March 2010 Length of Detention: 678 Days Ali is a writer, commentator and political activist, regularly publishing articles in the media criticizing both the Israeli occupation and Palestinian Authority. Since the height of the Al-Aqsa Intifada ( ), he has been repeatedly placed in administrative detention. The military judge claims that Ali’s detention is related to his political membership of the PFLP and its ‘terrorist activities’. Israeli authorities neither provided a charge nor allowed the defence to see “evidence” concerning his detention.

Appeals against Ali’s detention were consistently rejected. Ali’s administrative detention order was renewed four times. His health has suffered greatly due to his imprisonment including a heart attack in 2002 while he was under administrative detention. Ali’s arrest has had a tremendous psychological impact on his children, including his daughter Saja who has been visiting her father in prison since she was four years old. Ali’s wife could only visit her husband only once a year for 45 minutes. When she tried to bring gift items for her husband, they were often confiscated. For more information on Ali Jaradat’s case, please refer to Addameer’s website: 13 Case Study 1: ALI JARADAT

14 Addameer’s ‘Stop Administrative Detention’ Campaign Immediately release all administrative detainees! On March , Addameer launched its global campaign to stop the Israeli use of administrative detention and called on Israel to first and foremost:

15 Respect international human rights and international humanitarian law, in particular those articles that underline the appropriate prison conditions that should be accorded to detainees the prohibition of "Individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying Power or to that of any other country, occupied or not”. Addameer’s SAD Campaign In the meantime, we call on Israel to at least:

16 Addameer’s SAD Campaign Addameer also urges the international community to assume its role and hold Israel to account under international law The international community’s lack of effective response forces us to seriously question its commitment to fundamental human rights. It is time it starts acting.

17 What you can do ACT NOW! 1. Write messages of solidarity to Palestinian administrative detainees. 2. Write to the Israeli government, military and legal authorities, demanding that these administrative detainees be released immediately and that their administrative detention not be renewed. 3.Write to the International Bar Association (IBA), asking its members and Human Rights Institute to put pressure on the Israeli Bar Association

18 What you can do ACT NOW! 4. Write also to representatives of the European Union urging the EU to pressure Israel to release administrative detainees and to put an end to such an unjust, arbitrary and cruel system of incarceration without trial. 4.Write to your own elected representatives urging them to pressure Israel to release administrative detainees and to put an end to such an unjust, arbitrary and cruel system of incarceration without trial. 4.Finally, write to Israeli Embassies and Consulates in your own country.

19 Contact details To write to Palestinian detainees: POSTAL ADDRESS: Ofer Prison, Givat Zeev, P.O. Box 3007, via Israel POSTAL ADDRESS: Ketziot Prison, P.O. Box 13, Postal Code: , Israel POSTAL ADDRESS: Hasharon Prison, Ben Yehuda, P.O. Box 7, , Israel Please send us copies / or inform us whenever you send a letter to an administrative detainee. Contact Addameer at for more information about specific cases. To write to Israeli government, military and legal authorities: Colonel Eli Bar On, Legal Advisor P.O. Box 10482, Beit El, West Bank Tel: Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister Office of the Prime Minister 3, Kaplan Street, PO Box 187 Kiryat Ben-Gurion, Jerusalem, Israel Fax: Mr Ya’akov Ne’eman, Minister of Justice Fax: ; Mr Yehuda Weinstein, Attorney General Fax: ; ; Please cc Addameer:

20 Unfair, arbitrary, unfounded or simply wrong. You decide. Say NO to detention without trial!