Increasing number of Palestinians held by Israel without trial

Israel has slapped "administrative detention" orders on 84 Palestinians over the past 10 days, a Palestinian NGO said Monday.

The Palestinian Prisoners' Club said 39 Palestinians had been arrested and placed under administrative detention for periods of between two and six months, while the other 45 had their detention prolonged.

Palestinian administrative detainees are held without charge or trial, often on the basis of secret evidence, for periods of up to six months, which are extendable indefinitely.

Last Friday, journalist Mohammed al-Qiq ended a 94-day hunger strike staged in protest at his administrative detention under a deal for his release in May.

The latest orders raise to more than 700 the number of Palestinians held under administrative detention, out of a total of more than 7,000 Palestinians being held in Israeli jails, according to the NGO.

The Prisoners' Club, which follows their cases, said it was the highest number since 2009.

The Palestinian Office for Prisoners Affairs released a report in early February documenting Israel's detention of Palestinians without trial.

The report found that at least nine children were being detained without trail.

The UN has called on Israel to end the practice and to release or promptly charge all administrative detainees.

The practice has increased dramatically since the beginning of October, with 240 new administrative detention orders being issued in that time.

The report also added that a number of detainees have spent more than ten years during different periods in administrative detention, without being charged or having access to a fair trial.

"Seventy-five percent of the administrative detainees' arrests were renewed more than once, and were arrested on the basis of so-called secret evidence, which prevents lawyers from seeing the case," said the report.

Based on the Prisoner Affair's statistics, 25,000 detention orders against Palestinians have been issued since 2000, and are said to be used as a substitute of a fair trial.

"Prisoners have fought against administrative detention with strikes, both individually and collectively," said the authority, adding that the practice of administrative detention contravenes the Geneva conventions.