Israel mistreats Palestinian prisoners by using administrative detention without trial, which is a violation of international norms.

The Israeli Response

The Geneva Conventions are humanitarian laws that specify the international legal standards of humanitarian treatment in times of war.

What is administrative detention?

A government policy allowing for temporarily detaining an individual without a trial because he poses a security risk.

Happens when the individual has not yet been proven to have committed a crime, but the state has sensitive intelligence indicating they are involved in terrorist activities.

This evidence is disclosed to a judge before administering the detention but not to the defendant, the attorney, or the public.

This is done to prevent Israel from exposing its intelligence networks and the identities of informants, which could potentially put their lives at risk.

What do international humanitarian laws say about how prisoners of war should be treated?

“If the Occupying Power considers it necessary, for imperative reasons of security, to take safety measures concerning protected persons, it may, at the most, subject them to assigned residence or to internment.” (Fourth Geneva Convention, Article 78)

“Although international human rights law permits some limited use of administrative detention in emergencies, the authorities are required to follow basic rules for detention, including a fair hearing at which the detainee can challenge the reasons for his or her detention. Moreover, to use such detention, there must be a public emergency that threatens the life of the nation, and detention can only be ordered on an individual, case-by-case basis without discrimination of any kind” (International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 9).

Let's take apart the criticisms laid against Israel on this topic:

'Administrative detention is illegal'

That is false: Administrative detention is legal under the Geneva Conventions (see previous bullet).

Many other liberal democracies, such as the U.S., UK, Canada, and Italy all apply this policy to protect their citizens from terrorist attacks or to control illegal immigration.

However, no other liberal democracy faces the systematic, organized terrorism at its borders that Israel is confronted with. Therefore, Israel's administrative detention policy is only used as an effort to save lives, not harm them.

'Israel keeps thousands of detainees without trial'

This is inaccurate and misleading: The number of detainees is dynamic and fluctuates directly according to the level of Palestinian terrorist activities, ranging from 12 in December 2000, following the Camp David negotiations, to a high of 1700 in November 1989, during the first Intifada.

These statistics, taken from B'Tselem, mean that that Israel's use of administrative detention is not evidence of an injustices committed by Israel, but rather it is indicative of the amount of hatred Palestinians have for Jews.

Sadly, this indicates that thousands of Palestinians attempt to murder Jews every month, with numbers reaching thousands in heated times like the first and second intifadas.

'Detention can be extended over and over with no time limit'

Israel uses administrative detention to prevent individuals from planning, orchestrating, facilitating, or assisting in acts of terrorism.

A judge reviews each case and limits the duration of detainment, as is evidenced by the statistics regarding detention times of detainees.

Some potential terrorists are involved in extensive schemes, and extending their detention is necessary to protect human lives. However, statistics indicate that Israel does not extend detentions lightly.

From the media

Administrative detention, taken from https://www.btselem.org/administrative_detention

Number of administrative detainees between years 2001 and 2023. Taken from https://www.btselem.org/administrative_detention/statistics

Durations in custody of detainees between 2011-2022. Taken from https://www.btselem.org/administrative_detention/statistics

Resources

Conclusions

Claims about Israel mistreating Palestinian prisoners stem from ignorance or hostile attempts to hurt the reputation of Israel. If you’re not sure what you think about the Israeli prisons, ask yourself - would you prefer to be a prisoner of Israel or Hamas?

The Israeli Response