Palestinian prisoner and former hunger striker Thaer Halahleh’s administrative detention renewed

thaerPalestinian prisoner and former long-term hunger striker Thaer Halahleh’s administrative detention without charge or trial was renewed for the fifth time, reported the Palestinian Center for Prisoners’ Studies on Saturday, 9 July. Halahleh, who is ill with Hepatitis C, contracted during a dental operation in Israeli prisons where improper sterilization was used, has been imprisoned without charge or trial since 19 August 2014.

 

Halahleh, 27, from the village of Kharas near al-Khalil, is held in the Negev desert prison. He has been denied family visits with his wife and children for seven months, and receives only painkillers as treatment for his illness.

Halahleh engaged in a 77-day hunger strike in 2012, winning his freedom from administrative detention without charge or trial in June 2012 alongside fellow administrative detainee Bilal Diab. He was arrested again in April 2013 and released in May 2014, before being once again arrested and imprisoned without charge or trial. He has spent 11 years in Israeli prisons, most frequently under administrative detention orders.

Halahleh is one of nearly 750 Palestinian prisoners held without charge or trial under administrative detention on the basis of secret evidence. Administrative detention as a policy as practiced by Israel is a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention and other relevant international humanitarian and human rights law. Palestinian administrative detainee Bilal Kayed is currently on his 25th day of hunger strike demanding his release from detention, imposed upon him following the completion of his 14.5-year sentence in Israeli prisons.