Joint Monthly Report: 551 Palestinians were arrested in the month of April 2018

In the context of continued violations of international law, and the rights of the  Palestinian people, Palestinian human rights organizations working on Prisoner issues (The Palestinian Prisoners Club, Addameer Prisoners Support and Human Rights organization, The Prisoners Commission and Al Mezan Center for Human Rights) recorded a total of 551 Palestinians detained by the occupation forces during the month of April 2018.

As part of ensuring the accountability of the occupation forces, these organizations publish a joint monthly report that deals with the past month of violations against the Palestinian prisoners and people. Through providing such monthly analyses, the continuous and political nature of these violations are exposed.

The report elaborated that of the 551 Palestinians arrested during the month of April, 124 of these were children and 9 were women.

This included 162 arrested from Jerusalem; 94 arrested from the Governorate of Ramallah and al Bireh; 70 arrested from the Governorate of Hebron; 48 were arrested from the Governorate of Jenin; 41 were from Bethlehem; 40 were from Nablus; 16 from Tulkurm; 39 from Qalqiliya; 9 from Tubas; 10 from Salfeet; 8 from Jericho Governorate; and 14 from the Gaza Strip.

In regard to the policy of Administrative Detention, there were 80 orders issued this month by the occupation. Of this 80, 32 were new and the 48 were renewals.

In regard to the overall figures on prisoners, the number remained stable at 6036. Of this figure, 63 were female with 8 girls under the age of 18. The number of child prisoners totaled 304, with 65 of this figure being under the age of 16. The number of those being held under administrative detention is 431.

In regards to sentencing, the number of people serving single or multiple life sentences was 537. Additionally, 484 individuals are serving  20 years or more and 431 are serving between 15-20 years. 275 individuals are serving 10-15 years.

The report provided further details on the situation for Palestinian women in detention. Of the 63 female prisoners, 8 of them are children, 9 are injured, and 3 are being held under Administrative Detention.

Furthermore, the report elaborated on the current status of the Administrative Detention Boycott. The boycott has been ongoing since 15 February 2018, when 430 administrative detainees began to refuse to participate in any court proceedings surrounding the policy Administrative Detention.

The boycott is ongoing though, Abu Akkar, a member of the committee representing the administrative detainees, assured Addameer on 1 May that a meeting between the intelligence services and the prisoners will take place within a few days.

The organizations concluded by restating that Israel, as the occupying power, has an obligation to abide by the Fourth Geneva Convention and all of the relevant human rights law instruments.