Administrative detainees boycott military courts

stopad-banner-smallPalestinian administrative detainees in Israeli prisons have rejected a proposal from the occupation prison authorities to delay their protests of their detention without charge or trial, reported the Palestinian Prisoners Society.

Prison officials met with a group of administrative detainees, saying that their demands had been transferred to the security services and that responses would be forthcoming; they then asked the Palestinian administrative detainees to return to the courts, which they are boycotting, and not escalate their protest, said Jawad Boulos, head of PPS’ legal unit.

The detainees rejected this proposal, noting that the prison authorities have already delayed for months their response to the demands, and that they will continue boycotting the military courts and the Israeli Supreme Court and will take further steps to escalate.

Boulos said that the number of administrative detainees who refuse to go to the courts has increased, noting that Sami Hussein Ibrahim boycotted a Supreme Court hearing on Monday, as did Akram al-Fasissi.

Administrative detainees are held without charge or trial on secret “security” evidence, for six-month terms, indefinitely renewable. In practice, administrative detention is used to arbitrarily detain Palestinians without even the minimal standards of the military court, which convict Palestinians charged before them at a rate of 99.74%.