PLC member and human rights defender Khalida Jarrar received a renewal for her administrative detention order on 25 October 2018. This four-month order got confirmed after only a few days.

Khalida is meant to be released on 28 February 2019, This would mean that Khalida would be held in prison, without charge or trial, for 20 months as this is the fourth detention order/renewal for her.

As we previously have said, Khalida is a fearless human rights defender who has committed herself to utilize all the legal tools available to realize the basic rights of the Palestinian people.

In the occupied Palestinian West Bank, the Israeli army is authorized to issue administrative detention orders against Palestinian civilians on the basis of Military Order 1651. This order empowers military commanders to detain an individual for up to six-month renewable periods if they have “reasonable grounds to presume that the security of the area or public security requires the detention.” On or just before the expiry date, the detention order is frequently renewed. This process can be continued indefinitely.

This practice of arbitrary detention is a grave violation of international laws and human rights standards, particularly articles 78 and 72 of the Fourth Geneva Convention which state that an accused individual has the right to defend him/herself. This also violates Article 66 of the Fourth Geneva Convention and the basic standards of fair trial. 

Addameer believes Jarrar's detention violates international fair trial standards since administrative detention orders are based on secret information. Therefore, her legal representatives are unable to fully address the prosecution’s argument, which asserts that Jarrar poses a security threat.

It is of the utmost importance that we do everything possible to push the occupation authorities to release Khalida Jarrar. She is an honest, principled and committed human rights defender, and is deserving of all the support that we can provide.

For further information about Khalida, please check her profile.