If the four major points of contention between the Palestinians and Israel have been the borders of a Palestinian state, the status of Jerusalem, the right of return of Palestinian refugees, and illegal Jewish settlements, the UN has reminded us that the continued and increasing use of administrative detention by Israeli authorities against Palestinians could be issue No 5. The United Nations Human Rights Office said that as of February this year, there were reportedly 424 Palestinians held under administrative detention orders – more than double the 181 held at the same time last year. Most recently, it cited Palestinian Legislative Council member Khalida Jarrar who was arrested on April 2 and could be subjected to six months detention, without charge or trial, renewable indefinitely. The Israeli practice of administrative detention of Palestinians has been condemned on numerous occasions by the UN Human Rights Office for good reason. To silence the Palestinians, Israel uses "administrative detention" procedures, another name for open-ended incarceration without charge or trial, even if Israeli law can find no reason to indict them. Victims can be held without charge or trial, often on the basis of secret evidence, for periods of up to six months, sometimes in excess of 10 years, without ever knowing the reasons behind their imprisonment. The policy of administrative detention, which Israel has reportedly defended as necessary to prevent attacks, is actually designed to punish and break the will of those who will not submit to the occupation. Detention without trial, the presumption of guilt, the denial of family visits, solitary confinement, torture, violent interrogation, and the denial of access to appropriate health care: such is the Israeli judicial system and the form of prison confinement experienced by Palestinian men, women and children. Administrative detention gives the occupying Israeli authorities the power to detain Palestinians (or indeed Israelis) without charge, withholding evidence and holding them "presumed guilty" if necessary. Since detainees do not know the evidence against them, they are unable to refute it. With no notification of the "crimes" for which they are being held, these detentions negate due process of law and the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. Administrative detention should not be used as a substitute for criminal prosecution when there is insufficient evidence. As it clearly is being used by Israel in this way, its use does not meet international standards set by international law. Arrests and detention without charge are based all too often on spurious evidence secured by the unaccountable and secretive Israeli intelligence services. A comprehensive list of international legally binding agreements dutifully signed, ratified and consequently disregarded by various Israeli governments are cited by the UN. Israel has indeed historically ratified international agreements regarding human rights protection, whilst at the same time refusing to apply the agreements within the occupied Palestinian territories, attempting to create legal justifications for its illegal actions. Those detained must be charged and face trial with judicial guarantees or released without delay. To all rationally minded people, this is the correct and right course of action, echoed by Amnesty when it wrote that "Israel has a duty to uphold due process and fair trial rights, and to take effective action to end torture and other ill treatment of detainees". Action is needed to support calls for the observation of human rights and to enforce repeated demands for justice. Israel disregards the law, tramples on human rights and sees itself as unaccountable. Let Israel, which has imprisoned a nation's people, be itself placed in solitary confinement, subjected to sanctions and forced to honor agreements and the rule of law. Perhaps then, the sufferings of the Palestinian people will come to an end.
