A posters depicting Khader Adnan outside Ofer prison where he is being held.
(Photo: Activestills)

February 15, 2012

Palestinian hunger striker Khader Adnan petitioned Israel's Supreme Court on Wednesday to appeal his detention without charge, as thousands took to the streets in solidarity with him.

Lawyer Jawad Bulus said he had lodged an urgent appeal with the Supreme Court to lift the administrative detention order in light of the rapidly deteriorating health of his client, Khader Adnan.

"We filed an appeal this morning and requested an immediate hearing in front of the court due to the seriousness of his condition," Bulus told AFP. "We are awaiting an answer."

Activists protested throughout the occupied West Bank on Wednesday against Israel's continued administrative detention of Palestinian Khader Adnan.

Adnan, 33, has been on hunger strike for 60 days to protest his detention without trial or charge, with Israel rejecting appeals for his release.

Addameer, a prisoner's rights group, said Adnan was "under a very direct threat of death" after a doctor from Physicians for Human Rights conducted a medical examination on him on Tuesday evening.

"All of his muscles, including his heart and his stomach, are under threat of disintegrating and his immune system could cease to function at any moment," a statement from Addameer read.

"Khader’s body is at high risk of sudden heart attack or total organ failure, which would cause imminent death."

Palestinian youth groups staged protests in front of Ofer prison, as well as at Birzeit and Al-Quds universities and other parts of Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Israeli forces stormed into Adnan's home near Jenin in the West Bank on December 17, and, according to Human Rights Watch, held him prisoner on "secret evidence" that Israel refuses to disclose to Adnan or his lawyer.

Under Israel's military law, prisoners can be held in administrative detention for up to six months without charge or trial. The detention can be renewed at the end of the period, effectively allowing Israel to hold Palestinians in jail indefinitely.

Human Rights Watch argues Israel's administrative detention policy is a violation of international law.

"Israel’s international legal obligations, however, require it to inform those arrested of the reasons for the arrest at the time, to promptly inform them of any charges against them and to bring them before a judge," the rights-group said in a press release.

An Israeli military judge ordered Adnan be held for four months, and subsequent appeals for the ruling to be overturned have been rejected.

Diana Alzeer, a Ramallah-based journalist, said it was unlikely that Israel would release Adnan as it would prompt the roughly 300 Palestinians under administrative detention to push for their own rights, undermining the detention policy.

"If they let Khader free this means many prisoners who are on administrative detention will go on a strike and Israel is not willing to step down on this," she said.

Alzeer told Al-Akhbar of mounting frustration at the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Palestinian Authority for their lack of effort to secure Adnan's release.

"We have a sense of huge disappointment in the Red Cross (ICRC) as they deal with the prisoners case as well as the Palestinian leadership who talks about Khader, but yet is doing nothing to help," she said.

Over 3,500 people have signed an online petition urging the ICRC to pressure Israel into releasing Adnan.

"According to International Humanitarian Law, it is the responsibility of the ICRC to take active steps to save his life by applying pressure on the Israeli government to release him," the petition's statement read.

An ICRC spokesperson responded, however, that the body's mandate is only to ensure the treatment of prisoners are satisfactory as per International Humanitarian Law, which "does not discuss reasons of internment."

"This law (International Humanitarian Law) does not prohibit internment for 'comparative reasons of security.' In any case, the Israeli authorities have to ensure the treatment and the significant conditions of detention are safeguarded as stipulated under the Geneva Conventions," Hicham Hassan, ICRC spokesperson, told Al-Akhbar.

Hassan said the ICRC was in regular contact with Adnan, and has a doctor monitoring his situation.

"With the case of Mr Khader Adnan, we have a doctor who is regularly visiting him to assess his health condition, and the medical care provided by ... Israeli authorities," he said.

ICRC will only shares its findings on the conditions of Adnan's detention with Israeli authorities, following a protocol of conduct whereby the organization works on a strictly bilateral basis on prisoner rights.

"We cannot comment publicly on any condition of detention or specific cases. Findings remain bilateral and confidential," Hassan said.

"Since we are in touch of Mr Khader on a regular basis, since we do have a doctor that is seeing him, then this is for us what matters directly now, that we are able to see him and visit him."

Amnesty International has called on Israel to either release or charge Adnan.

"The Israeli authorities must release Khader Adnan and other Palestinians held in administrative detention, unless they are promptly charged with internationally recognizable criminal offences and tried in accordance with international fair trial standards," Ann Harrison, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East, said in a statement.

"Amnesty International believes that the practice of administrative detention in Israel and the Occupied Territories violates the internationally recognized right to a fair trial which must be upheld for all detainees, even during states of emergency," Amnesty said.


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