Gazans demand legal protection for Palestinians held by Israel

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have staged rallies to demand legal protection to detainees held by Israel.

“Freedom to Detainees” and “No to Administrative Detention” were among banners waved by protesters during the rally held outside the office of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza City.

“The Palestinian resistance will not stand hand-tied to racist Israeli policies,” Zaki Dababesh, coordinator of the Detainees Committee, which organized the protest, said.

He appealed to the international community to intervene “to halt Israeli violations against detainees.”

Taghreed Abu Jameh, a lawyer for Addameer Foundation for Human Rights, said detainees are subject to various violations, citing solitary confinement and denying them family visits as examples of Israeli daily violations.

“The UN must take a clear stance on the Israeli war crimes against detainees,” she told the rally.

There was no comment from the Israeli authorities on the accusations.

According to Palestinian human rights organizations, Israel holds about 4,700 Palestinian prisoners inside its jails, including 700 administrative detainees.

According to the Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, ‘administrative detention’ implies a person being held without trial and without having committed an offense, on the grounds that he or she plans to break the law in the future. As this measure is supposed to be preventive, it has no time limit. The person is detained without legal proceedings, by order of the regional military commander, based on classified evidence that is not revealed to them. This leaves the detainees helpless – facing unknown allegations with no way to disprove them, not knowing when they will be released, and without being charged, tried or convicted.