Israel: serious allegations about hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned without charges

In a family home in Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank, Yazen Alhasnat sat next to his mother rubbing his eyes to wake up.

The 17-year-old had been released from prison the night before, almost five months after being arrested in a 4am Israeli military raid on the house.

Yazen had been held under “administrative detention”, a long-standing security policy, inherited from the British, that allows the Israeli state to imprison people indefinitely without charge and without presenting any evidence against them.

“They have a secret file,” Yazen said. “They don't tell you what's in it.”

The young man had returned home because he was among 180 Palestinian children and women released from prison by Israel in the recent exchange of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

But at the same time as Palestinian prisoners were being released, Israel was detaining more people than in recent years.

In the weeks since October 7, The number of Palestinians in administrative detention – already at 1,300, a 30-year high – has soared to more than 2,800.

When Yazen was released, the Israelis told his family not to celebrate publicly in any way or speak to the media.

They gave the same instructions to the families of two other teenagers who spoke to the BBC about their experiences.

But the three families said they wanted to raise the issue of administrative detention.

'All lines'

Israel says the use of administrative detention complies with international law and is “a necessary preventive measure to combat terrorism.”

Maurice Hirsch, former head of the West Bank military prosecution from 2013 to 2016, told the BBC that Israel was “not only complying with international law but far exceeding it” by allowing detainees to appeal and ensuring that their detentions were reviewed every six months.

But human rights groups say Israel's extensive use of the measure is an abuse of a security law that is not designed to be used on that scale, and that Detainees cannot effectively defend themselves or appeal, because they do not have access to the evidence against them.

“Under international law, administrative detention should be a rare exception,” says Jessica Montell, executive director of HaMoked, an Israeli human rights organization that monitors the detention of Palestinians.

“It's supposed to be used when there is a present danger and there is no other way to prevent that danger than to detain someone. But it is clear that Israel is not using it that way. “He is detaining hundreds, thousands of people, without charge, and using administrative detention to protect himself from scrutiny.”

Palestinians have been subject to administrative detention in this region since 1945, first under the British Mandate and later in the occupied Palestinian territories.

In some very rare cases, the law has been used against Israeli settlers, but it is overwhelmingly used to detain West Bank Palestinians, including children.

Administrative detainees are granted a hearing (in a military court, in front of an Israeli military judge), but the state is not obliged to reveal any of its evidence to the detainees or their lawyers.

Those arrested can be sentenced to sentences of up to six months. But the military court can extend the six months indefinitely, which means that Administrative detainees never have a real idea of ​​how long they will be locked up.

“What really affects you is the uncertainty,” says Yazen, sitting in his living room. “Will you finish your six months and leave? Or will they extend you for a year, for two years?”

Detainees can file an appeal, including to Israel's Supreme Court, but without access to the evidence against them, they have nothing to rely on.

military courts

Palestinians who are formally tried in military courts have more access to evidence, but the courts boast a conviction rate of approximately 99%.

“Defending Palestinians in military courts is an almost impossible task”says Jerusalem-based defense attorney Maher Hanna.

“The entire system is designed to limit a Palestinian's ability to defend himself. It imposes harsh restrictions on the defense and relieves the state prosecutor of the burden of proof.”

Israel's use of this policy in the West Bank “has crossed all lines: red, green, all colors,” says Sadiah, Yazen's mother.

“We live under a parallel justice system.”

When 16-year-old Osama Marmesh was detained, he said he was taken off the street and put into an unmarked car.

So for the first 48 hours of Osama's detention, his father Naif had no idea where he was. “You call everyone you know to ask if they have seen your son,” says Naif. “You do not sleep”.

Osama notes that during his arrest he repeatedly asked about the charges against him, but each time he was told to “shut up.”

When Musa Aloridat, 17, was arrested in a 5 a.m. raid on his family home, Israeli forces smashed the bedroom he shared with his two younger brothers and fired a bullet into the closet, shattering the glass, he said. .

“They took him away in his underwear,” says Musa's father, Muhannad, showing a photo on his phone. “For three days we didn't hear anything.”

Neither Yazen, Osama and Musa, nor their parents, nor their lawyers, were shown any evidence against them during the months they were detained.

When Israel published the lists of detainees who would be released in the recent exch
anges, in the column detailing the charges, next to the names of Yazen, Osama and Musa there was only a vague line: “Threat to the security of the area.”

Another version of the list said that Yazen and Musa were suspected of being affiliated with Palestinian militant groups.

When Osama was released, he was given a brief charge sheet saying that on two occasions, months earlier, he had thrown a rock, “half the size of the palm of his hand,” at Israeli security positions.

Guantanamo

Maurice Hirsch, the former director of military prosecution, said it would be a mistake to draw conclusions from the limited information available.

“There is a very marked difference between the openly available evidence against these terrorists and what the intelligence information contains.“, said.

“We see that the Americans use administrative detention in Guantánamo, so we know that this measure is recognized and accepted internationally,” he added.

“And since this is an internationally accepted measure, why should only Israel be prevented from using it, when we are dealing with probably the biggest terrorist threat anyone has ever seen?”

In the end, Yazen, Osama and Musa spent between four and seven months in prison.

The three said conditions had been relatively comfortable until the Hamas attack on October 7, when their sheets, blankets, extra clothing and most of their food rations were taken away, and all communication with the government was cut off. outside world, in what they described as collective punishment for the attack.

Other detainees have said they were beaten, tear gassed or harassed with dogs.

The Israel Prison Service confirmed that it had placed prisons in emergency mode and “reduced the living conditions of security prisoners” in response to the Hamas attack.

Yazen, Osama and Musa were released early, because the Israeli hostage exchange prioritized women and children.

But according to the most recent figures from the prison service, there are still 2,873 people held under administrative detention in Israeli prisons.

The day after returning home, Musa was in his room where four months earlier the Israeli army had taken him from his bed.

The closet doors, shattered by a bullet, had been removed and replaced; Her parents had carefully arranged the room.

Musa expected to be in prison much longer, he said. His lawyer had told her that there was a 90% chance that his detention would be prolonged.

The three young people say that they want to try to finish school. But living under the constant threat of being locked up again was its own “kind of psychological detention,” Musa says.

“They released us to a bigger prison”says Yazen.

“There is no peace,” Yazen's mother says, looking at him. “They can take you at any time.”

Muath al-Khatib contributed to this report. Photographs by Joel Gunter.

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