Mohammed Mar'i Saudi Gazette RAMALLAH — Israel is holding 165 Palestinians in administrative detention without trial, a Palestinian organization said on Saturday. The Palestinian Prisoners Club (Nadi Al-Asir) said that the Israeli occupation authorities intensified the administrative detention against Palestinian activists from various Palestinian movements in recent months. The organization said that Israel holds the Israel holds the 165 prisoners in the Negev prison in the Negev Desert, Ofer military camp to the west of Ramallah and the Majido prison in northern Israel. The Israeli human rights organizations B'Tselem, the Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, and HaMoked, Center for the Defense of the Individual, charged that an administrative detention proceeding may look like a fair judicial process, but actually denies the detainees any chance of reasonably defending themselves. In the vast majority of cases, the Israeli judges agree to declare evidence privileged and rely on written reports prepared by the Shin Bet (Israeli internal intelligence agency) that are not available to the detainee or his attorney. As a form of collective punishment, it is prohibited under international law. The groups said that more than 1,000 Palestinians had been held simultaneously in administrative detention during the second intifada, or Al-Aqsa Intifada, which began on September 2000. On late October, the Palestinian administrative detainees in Israeli jails boycotted Israeli courts in protest against detention. Issa Qaraqi', the Palestinian Minister of Detainees and Ex-detainees said the time that the prisoners “took the decision after months of preparations and consultations.” Qaraqi' added that “the prisoners fed up with the prolongation of their detention indefinitely with nor charges or trial and the revolving door of arresting freed Palestinian prisoners.” He warned that the prisoners “will develop their protest measures into an open hunger strike if Israel does not end their detention.” He called on Palestinian political movements and Palestinian people to “support the prisoners in their just resistance against the Israeli violations.” According to recent Palestinian statistics, Israel is holding 5,200 Palestinian prisoners in its in 17 prisons and detention camps in Israel and in the West Bank of whom 234 children, 15 females, 15 members of Palestine Legislative Council and hundreds suffer from medical negligence. Qaddoura Faris, head of Nadi Al-Asir, on Tuesday said that the vast majority of Palestinian prisoners were exposed to different types of torture in Israeli jails.
Faris, also former minister of Detainees and Ex-detainees, said in a statement that 95 percent of Palestinian prisoners suffered from physical and psychological torture in 23 Israeli prisons and detention camps. He said that elderly, children, youths, females and sick prisoners were exposed to torture.
The 22-year-old prisoner Hassan al-Turabi died on early November at an Israeli hospital from complications related to leukemia. His death brought the number of Palestinian prisoners who died in Israeli jails to torture and medical negligence to 205 since the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories in 1967.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas insists that prisoners must be freed in line with to the peace agreements reached with Israel.
