Sun 11 October 2020:
Administrative detention is a policy that allows Israel to detain suspects without filing charges, sometimes for months
Palestinians on Saturday called on international human rights groups to urgently put pressure on the Israeli authorities to save the life of Maher al-Akhras, a Palestinian detainee who has been on a hunger strike for 76 days in a row.
The call came in a sit-in organized by the Islamic Jihad Movement in the cities of Gaza and Rafah in solidarity with al-Akhras.
Al-Akhras has waged an open-ended hunger strike to reject the Israeli policy of “administrative detention”.
In a speech during the Gaza pause, Khaled Al-Batsh, the leader of the movement, said: “We warn the occupation [Israel] against harming the life of the detainee al-Akhras and we hold them [Israel] responsible if something unfortunate happens to him.”
Israel uses #AdministrativeDetention to detain hundreds of #Palestinians without charge or trial every year. Maher Al-Akhras is protesting this cruel measure. He’s been on hunger strike since Israel detained him on July 22. His life is now in grave danger. #StopAD #SaveMaher pic.twitter.com/Eutnfdy5iM
— PLO Department of Public Diplomacy & Policy (@PalestinePDP) October 6, 2020
Israel’s Shin Bet security agency said al-Akhras was arrested on July 27 based on information that he is active in the Islamic Jihad armed group and was involved in “activities that endanger public safety”. It said he has been arrested five previous times for involvement in armed groups.
But al-Akhras’s wife said he is not an activist in any group, and only has campaigned for the rights of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Al-Akhras’s lawyer, Ahlam Haddad, said he rejected an offer to be released at the end of his current administrative detention on November 26 and demands to be let go immediately.
His wife said al-Akhras knows his life is in danger. “He says this is the only way he can achieve justice,” she said.
The Palestinians and human rights groups say administrative detention violates the right to due process, since evidence is withheld from prisoners while they are held for lengthy periods without being charged, tried or convicted.
Qadura Fares, the head of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, said: “Administrative detention is a crime and should end. We hold Israel fully responsible for his life and call for his immediate release.”
Administrative detention is a policy that allows Israel to detain suspects without filing charges, sometimes for months at a time with multiple extensions.
Some 5,000 Palestinian political detainees are languishing in Israeli jails, including 43 women, 180 children, and 430 detainees under the administrative detention.
