Arbitrary detention, also called administrative detention, is defined as a procedure upon which a person is arrested for 6 months that may be extended without official charges or trial.

The Israeli B'Tselem Organization defines it as arresting a person without trial under the pretext of possible future unlawful act, without having committed any violation.

This procedure is based on Article 111 of the Defense and Emergency System imposed by Britain in 1948. The Israeli occupation forces continued to implement this Article and reinforced it with military decisions.

Most of the administrative detainees were arrested for their political opinions, which are generally against the Israeli occupation. The reason behind administrative detention could be carrying out activities against the occupation forces without actual proofs against the detained.   

Confidential File:

In a study by the researcher Khadija Ziada, the arbitrary detention depends on a confidential file that cannot be viewed by the arrested or their advocates. The judiciary functions as a cover for the intelligence practices. Therefore, the arbitrary detention is unlawful and is against the basic international criteria of human rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights protects the individual’s right to life, freedom and security. Article 9 prohibits unlawful and arbitrary arrests or banishment.

According to ADDAMEER Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, this procedure is connected to the political situation in the occupied, and the protest against the continuity of the Israeli occupation of the lands which were occupied in 1967. This procedure is, in fact, a form of collective punishment against the Palestinians. The administrative detention carried out by the occupation forces is banned in the International Law. Nevertheless, the occupation has issued detention orders against several groups of the Palestinian community in the West Bank, human rights’ activists, workers, students, college students, advocates, mothers and merchants.

The administrative detention cases increase during popular uprisings and intifadas. The Israeli occupation forces use this policy to terrorize and oppress the Palestinians. Since 1967, the occupation forces issued more than 50,000 administrative detention orders; 24,000 of them were issued between the years 2000 and 2014. In 1989 (during Intifadat Al-Hijara), the number of administrative detainees reached 1,700 Palestinians. In 2004 after Intifadat Al-Aqsa, the number reached 1,140 Palestinians. From the popular uprising in 2015 until the end of 2018, the occupation forces issued 5,068 administrative detention orders; some were new others were extensions.

Unlawful Practices:

According to ADDAMEER’s report in April 2020, the Israeli occupation is detaining 430 Palestinians, three of them are females, in its jails without charges or trials for an unidentified duration. Most of the male detainees are detained at Ofer Camp, Megiddo, and Negev. The female detainees are detained at Damon Prison. 

The Palestinian Society Prisoner’s Club mentioned that some of the administrative detainees had their detention extended more than 5 times. These include prisoner Amjad Wared detained since 2002, prisoner Saleem Taha detained from 2001, prisoner Mohammed Abu Erra who has been detained for 57 months, and prisoner Khalid Harb who spent 67 months in detention.

The administrative detainees suffer from multiple unlawful practices including: medical negligence, unsuitable arrest conditions, limited contact with lawyers, torture, and deprivation of family visits. The occupation forces prevent the visits for mysterious security reasons, and makes the situation more difficult through placing the detained in prisons that are located in the occupied lands of 1948.

 

 

 

The number of the administrative detainees is shown below from 2001 until February 2014 according to the Ministry of Detainees and Ex-Detainees, and ADDAMEER: