Since the announcement in the media that the health of Muhammad al Qiq, a Palestinian journalist held in administrative detention since December 13 is getting critical, political parties, prisoners organizations, the Journalists Union and popular committees of the Stop the Wall Campaign came together and have organized daily protests in city centers of the West Bank and in front of Red Crescent offices.
We demand the immediate liberation of Al-Qiq and have condemned the Israeli abuses in prison: Torture, violence, non-respect of human rights, the use of administrative detention. We are inviting all the organisations that are in solidarity with the Palestinian cause to join us. It is only together that we can create the pressure necessary for international human rights organizations, the United Nations bodies and states to interfere.
Mohammed Al-Qiq, 33 years old, was arrested in his house in Ramallah on the 21st of November 2015. He was a reporter for the Saudi news channel Al-Majd. Until now, he’s been on a 50 days hunger strike to protest against his condition.
Others gatherings are planned for this week.
Administrative Detention
Administrative detention is a procedure that allows the Israeli military to hold prisoners indefinitely on secret information without charging them or allowing them to stand trial. Although administrative detention is used almost exclusively to detain Palestinians from the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT), which includes the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, Israeli citizens and foreign nationals can also be held as administrative detainees by Israel (over the years, only 9 Israeli settlers have been held in administrative detention).
Although international human rights law permits some limited use of administrative detention in emergency situations, 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).
Complicity of international corporations
In the meanwhile, the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement campaigns against the anglo-danish 'security' corporation G4S. The company provides services to the Israeli prison system helping it in their repression efforts and profiting from human rights violations. Join the campaign at: https://bdsmovement.net/activecamps/g4s