Petition

Dear Mr. Efroni,

I am writing in protest of Israel’s continued use of the practice of administrative detention, which as you are aware is a procedure whereby a person is detained without charge or trial, and I demand that Israel immediately cease this practice. Administrative detention has historically been used by Israel to imprison Palestinians, based on completely secret ‘evidence’ in an attempt to silence any resistance to its continued colonization and occupation of Palestinian lands.</p> <p>I am aware that administrative detention is permitted under international law but with strict conditions. It should only be used as a last resort and on an individual, case-by-case basis. Only imperative reasons of security justify the use of administrative detention and it should not be used as a substitute for criminal prosecution when there is insufficient evidence. This is obviously not the case for Israel which uses administrative detention in such a systematic manner that makes a mockery of international law.</p> <p>There are a number of reasons why Israel’s use of administrative detention does not meet international standards, including:</p> <p>-Israel widely practices the use of torture and corporal punishment and deports and incarcerates administrative detainees outside the Occupied Palestinian Territory;</p> <p>- Israel uses administrative detention as a form of collective punishment and widely engages in humiliating and degrading treatment of administrative detainees;</p> <p>- Administrative detainees are usually not informed precisely of the reasons for their detention;</p> <p>- Israel uses administrative detention as a substitute for criminal prosecution when evidence is insufficient or non-existent</p> <p>- Israel holds administrative detainees for prolonged periods in contravention of the 4th Geneva Convention, which mandates that administrative detention take place for a very brief period of time - In the case of child detainees, Israel regularly fails to take into account the best interests of the child as required under international law.</p> <p>For these reasons, among others, I again reiterate my demand for Israel to cease its use of administrative detention which Israel uses as a colonial tool of oppression.</p> <p>I look forward to hearing from you in very near future.</p> <p>Regards,

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