From
AFP:
Israel used a controversial form of detention without trial against an alleged Jewish extremist for the first time, following international outcry over the death of a Palestinian toddler in an arson attack.
The use of "administrative detention," which has been applied to thousands of Palestinians, came as Israeli authorities arrested another suspected Jewish extremist and extended the detention of the leader of a radical religious group.
None of the three were accused of direct involvement in last week's firebombing of a Palestinian home in the occupied West Bank in which an 18-month-old toddler was killed.
There have been hundreds of articles decrying Israel's use of administrative detention against Arabs. Amnesty International, for example,
has written:
“The authorities in Israel have a duty to protect everyone in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories from threats to their lives and physical integrity. But they must do so in a manner that respects human rights,” said Ann Harrison (Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.] “Israel has used its system of administrative detention – intended as an exceptional measure against people posing an extreme and imminent danger to security – to trample on the human rights of detainees for decades. It is a relic that should be put out to pasture.”
B'Tselem:
B'Tselem's position is that the government of Israel must release all administrative detainees or prosecute them, in accordance with due process, for the offenses they allegedly committed. As long as Israel continues to use administrative detention, it must do so in a way that comports with international law - only in the most exceptional cases, when there is no other alternative, and in a proportionate manner.
The
UNHRC:
The United Nations Human Rights Office (OHCHR) today expressed concern by the continued and increasing use of administrative detention by Israeli authorities against Palestinians, who are being held without charge or trial, often on the basis of secret evidence, for periods of up to six months.
OHCHR reiterates it call on Israel to end its practice of administrative detention and to either release without delay or to promptly charge all administrative detainees and prosecute them with all the judicial guarantees required by international human rights law.
Will any of these organizations publicly call for these three Jews to be released or charged with a crime?
