Urgent statement

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The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) on the occasion of its international board meeting in Paris on May 12th 2012, strongly denounces the situation of Palestinian prisoners in Israel, who have been on hunger strike since April 17th 2012 in protest against administrative detention, as well as living conditions and ill-treatment in the prisons.

FIDH is particularly worried about the deteriorating health situation of Mr. Bilal Diab and Mr. Tha’er Halahleh as a result of their hunger strike and ill-treatment, and fears for the safety of their lives. Last week, Israel’s High Court of Justice rejected these detainees’ appeal to be released from administrative detention. This decision comes despite the reports by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) that Diab and Halahleh’s lives are in imminent danger as they have been on hunger strike for more than 72 days.

According to FIDH member organization in Gaza, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) “at least 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons and detention facilities have been on hunger strike since 17 April 2012 in order to denounce their ongoing administrative detention as well as other violations of their rights. These demands include: improving their living conditions in the Israeli prisons; ensuring family visitations, particularly for the prisoners from the Gaza Strip; allowing detainees to receive education; and putting an end to the solitary confinement policy, repression and night searches”.

Diab and Halahleh stand amongst around 300 Palestinians suffering from the Israel’s policy of administrative detention, according to FIDH member organization B’tselem. The procedure allows for the detention of Palestinians in Israeli prisons without charges brought against them, and without being informed of any evidence, under the auspices of “security concerns”. According to B’tselem, in December 2011, 60% of those detained have had their detention extended.

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FIDH calls upon the immediate release of Diab, Halahleh , and all others who are arbitrary detained.

Furthermore, FIDH calls on the Israeli authorities to abide by their international obligations and respect the international humanitarian and human rights laws and in particular Article 14 paragraph 3 (a) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights(ICCPR) which provides that everyone should be entitled to “be informed promptly and in detail in a language which he understands of the nature and cause of the charge against him”. The policy of administrative detention contravenes with the basic international human rights standards as the evidence against persons are submitted in secret to the military court and neither the defendants nor their lawyers are informed of this evidence. Accordingly, FIDH recalls that the right do fair trial and information about charges cannot be compromise for security concerns.