UN: Israel must end “increasing use of administrative detention” against Palestinians

Israel is increasingly jailing Palestinians without charge or trial, according to the office of a senior UN human rights official.

A spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights stated Friday that the Geneva-based body is “concerned at the continued and increasing use of administrative detention by Israeli authorities against Palestinians.”

Citing the case of Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) member Khalida Jarrar, arrested on 5 April, the High Commissioner’s office said there were 424 Palestinians in Israeli administrative detention as of February, “more than double the 181 held at the same time last year.”

Administrative detention, as the UN explained, means that “often on the basis of secret evidence”, Palestinians can be jailed for “periods of up to six months, which are extendable indefinitely.”

The official also noted how detainees are “often transferred to prisons inside Israel in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention.”

The UN High Commissioner renewed a call for “Israel to end its practice of administrative detention and to either release without delay or to promptly charge all administrative detainees and prosecute them with all the judicial guarantees required by international human rights law and standards.”