Agencies-Gaza post
Palestinian administrative inmates boycott Israeli courts for 107 day
Nearly 450 Palestinian inmates have been rejecting to show up for their military court hearings for 107 days in protest of their unfair arrest without charge or trial under Israel’s contentious administrative detention approach.
The boycott contains hearings for the renewal of administrative detention declarations as well as appeal hearings and later sessions at Israel’s Supreme Court.
Palestinian inmates say their movement is a continuance of longstanding Palestinian steps to put an end to the unjust administrative detention practiced against Palestinians by the Israeli occupation forces.
Under administrative arrest, Israel holds Palestinians without charge for up to six months, a period that can be expanded to an undetermined number of times. Women and minors are also among those prisoners. The custody takes place on orders from a military commander and on the basis of what the Israeli regime describes as ‘secret’ evidence. Some inmates have been held in administrative detention for up to 11 years.
Palestinians and human rights groups say the administrative detention disobeys the right to due process since the evidence is withheld from inmates while they are held for lengthy periods without being arrested, tried, or sentenced.
Over 4,500 Palestinian inmates are currently arrested in about 17 Israeli prisons. More than 450 inmates, including women and minors, are under administrative detention. Rights groups define Israel’s use of custody as a “bankrupt tactic” and have long called on Israel to end its use.
