Press Release - May 26, 2003
On the morning of Sunday 11 May 2003, the Israeli authorities released 62 Palestinian administrative detainees from the Ketziot Military Camp. The next day, Monday 12 May, another 90 Palestinian prisoners were released. However, after reviewing the files of all those released, Addameer has observed that the vast majority of those released on Sunday were to end their administrative detention orders within a few days, and the remainder were to be released by 30 May 2003. All 90 prisoners released the next day were criminal prisoners, the majority of whom were arrested and imprisoned because of entering Israel without a permit. This ‘good will gesture’, as Israel has deemed it, is simply a superficial act that aims to convince the world that Israel is releasing Palestinian detainees.
On the morning of Sunday 11 May 2003, the Israeli authorities released 62 Palestinian administrative detainees from the Ketziot Military Camp. The next day, Monday 12 May, another 90 Palestinian prisoners were released. However, after reviewing the files of all those released, Addameer has observed that the vast majority of those released on Sunday were to end their administrative detention orders within a few days, and the remainder were to be released by 30 May 2003. All 90 prisoners released the next day were criminal prisoners, the majority of whom were arrested and imprisoned because of entering Israel without a permit. This ‘good will gesture’, as Israel has deemed it, is simply a superficial act that aims to convince the world that Israel is releasing Palestinian detainees.
There are approximately 5,200 Palestinian and Arab prisoners currently being held in Israeli prisons. Of that number, 70 are women, and over 1,150 are administrative detainees, held without charge or trial. The majority of Palestinian administrative detainees are being held at Ketziot Military Camp in the Negev Desert, and the remainder at Ofer Military Camp near Ramallah.
Israel’s use of administrative detention is a form of arbitrary detention, in that it detains individuals for extended periods of time, sometimes years, without charge or fair trial, arrests are based on a secret file which neither the detainee nor his/her lawyer have access to, in violation of international law and conventions. Article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “no individual shall be detained, imprisoned or deported arbitrarily.” Israel has consistently violated international standards of detention in its systematic use of administrative detention.
To address the Palestinian prisoners issue in the context of good will gestures and confidence building measures sentences any political negotiations or peace process to failure. Israel’s arrest and imprisonment of Palestinians over the decades of Israeli occupation is an issue that has affected and continues to affect every Palestinian. Since the beginning of Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem in 1967, over 650,000 Palestinians have been arrested by Israel. This forms 20 percent of the total Palestinian population. When one considers that the majority of those arrested or detained are male, this number jumps to over 40 percent of the male population. Any negotiations or processes aimed at resolving the conflict must address this basic issue at its root, and ensure the unconditional release of all Palestinian prisoners.