RAMALLAH, Seven Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention are still on hunger strike in protest of their unfair administrative detention without a charge or trial, the oldest of whom is Kayed al-Fasfous who has been on hunger strike for 109 days.
The other prisoners are Miqdad Qawasmeh, who has been on hunger strike for 102 days in protest of his detention without a charge or trial, Alaa Aaraj (84 days), Hesham Abu Hawwash (75 days), Shadi Abu-Akr (68 days), Ayyad Hureimi (39 days) and Lo’ai al-Ashqar (21 days).
Both Fasfous and Qawasmeh have been in hospital following serious deterioration in their health conditions. They have been demanding an end of their detention without charge or trial and based on the so-called secret file which even their lawyers are not allowed to view.
On October 14, the Israeli High Court issued a verdict freezing the administrative detention of al-Fasfous, who is being treated at Israel’s Barzilai Medical Center due to his critical health condition. However on Friday, an Israeli court reinstated his administrative detention, without charge or trial, despite the serious deterioration in his health.
Israel’s widely condemned policy of administrative detention allows the Israeli military to hold Palestinians in prisons indefinitely based on secret information without charging them or allowing them to stand trial.
The period of administrative detention orders ranges between four to six months without trial, and is based on a “secret file” provided by the Israeli intelligence service and is renewed successively.
Last week, UN experts expressed grave fear for the lives of the hunger strikers, and called on Israel to either release or charge the prisoners, and to completely end its unlawful practice of administrative detention.
“In violation of international law, Israel continues to use administrative detention to imprison more than 500 Palestinians — including six children — without charges, without trials, without convictions, all based on classified secret information that the detainees have no access to,” the experts said. “They have no recourse to challenging these undisclosed allegations, and they do not know when, or if, they are going to be released.”
Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency