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B'tselem: Administrative detainees sometimes held for years

Rights organization claims number of Palestinians held without indictment has decreased, but claim 10% of them have been held for over two years

Security forces are currently holding hundreds of Palestinians in administrative detention, sometimes for years, without filing an indictment against them, a B'tselem report says.

 

The report, published Thursday, also says the number of prisoners held in administrative detention decreased considerably in 2008, from 813 to 546. The Shin Bet refused comment on the claims.

 

B'tselem's report, which deals mainly with the issue of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel, says the State takes advantage of its legal authority to detain prisoners without indictment. The detainees are permitted to appeal their arrest, but are prevented from seeing the evidence against them.

 

An official order in the West Bank permits an administrative detention of six months, but the term can be extended indefinitely as long as "there is reasonable foundation for concern regarding public safety."

 

The report claims that 42 of the 548 administrative detainees have been held for over two years, and more than half of these have been held for over two years and six months. Five have been in administrative detention for 3-5 years.

 

The report also says there are currently two underage females in administrative detention in Israel.

 

Khaled Qabi, a resident of Nablus, has been an administrative detainee since 2005. His sister Iman lamented the numerous remands of his arrest by the court, and said the hardest part was the mystery surrounding the allegations against him.

 

Iman told Ynet that "the deal was sealed between the military prosecutor and the judge, and the judge always accepts what the prosecution says. The problem is we have no way of dealing with the whispering between them because they claim it's confidential material."

 

She added, "How can a man not know what he is accused of and what the suspicion is. He is rotting in prison without the ability to hold a trial. Even the lawyer doesn't know what the allegations are because the file is confidential. How can he manage his defense?"

 


פרסום ראשון: 02.05.09, 23:24
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