UN Special Rapporteur calls for the release of Palestinian hunger strike detainee

The UN Special Rapporteur for human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Professor Richard Falk, has called on the Israeli authorities to release the Palestinian detainee, Khader Adnan, who has been on hunger strike for two months now.
 
On Wednesday, the UN News Centre reported that Falk had expressed grave concerns about Adnan’s health. Falk described the situation as urgent and pressed the international community to intervene stating that, “In view of the emergency of his situation, the Government of Israel must take immediate and effective action to safeguard Mr Adnan’s life, while upholding his rights.”

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“The improper treatment of thousands of Palestinian prisoners by the Government of Israel should be of utmost concern to the international community, and it is a problem that I am paying close attention to in the context of my on-going visit to the region,” he added.
 
Adnan, a 34-year-old Palestinian from the village of Arraba near Jenin in the north of the West Bank, began his hunger strike in December approximately one week after he was taken into administrative detention. His actions are a poignant protest against the arbitrary use of administrative detention policy and improper treatment of Palestinians in Israeli custody.