DCI/PS : détention administrative pour un gamin de 16 ans, et cela, pour la 7° fois

2008/12/29

16 year-old has administrative detention order renewed for a seventh time


[Ramallah – 27 December 2008] Sa’d Abu Khalil had his administrative detention order renewed on 24 December for the seventh time.

Sa’d, from Tulkarm in the north of the West Bank, was 16 when he was arrested on 28 February 2007. On or about the same day he received his first administrative detention order for four months for allegedly belonging to a banned organisation, Islamic Jihad. Sa’d denies the allegation. The evidence against him is contained in a ‘secret file’.

Sa’d’s administrative detention order was renewed for a second time on 27 June 2007 (four months), a third time on 26 October 2007 (four months, reduced to three), a fourth time on 25 January 2008 (four months), a fifth time on 26 May 2008 (four months reduced to three), a sixth time on 25 August 2008 and most recently, a seventh time on Christmas Eve for another two months. Sa’d is now expected to be detained until at least 25 February 2009.

Sa’d is currently being detained without charge or trial in Telmond prison, inside Israel, in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention which stipulates that he must be detained inside the West Bank.

Administrative detention

Administrative detention is detention without charge or trial and is often based on ‘secret evidence’. Israeli Military Order 1226 empowers military commanders to detain Palestinians, including children as young as 12, for up to six months if they have ‘reasonable grounds to presume that the security of the area or public security require the detention.’ The initial six month period can be extended by additional six-month periods indefinitely. This procedure denies the detainee the right to a fair trial and the ability to adequately challenge the basis of his or her detention.

There are currently at least 569 Palestinians being held by Israel without charge or trial in administrative detention, of which five are children, including two girls, Salwa and Sara. Since 2000, when Israeli military commanders started issuing administrative detention orders against children, the numbers have steadily been rising to around 30 children being held per year. DCI/PS continues to urge Israeli authorities to:

Immediately cease the practice of holding children in administrative detention; and
Immediately and unconditionally release all children currently held in administrative detention, or charge them with a recognisable criminal offence and promptly try them in a proper court of law with internationally accepted standards for a fair trial.
For further information on administrative detention and ways in which you can take action please visit the Freedom Now webpage.