Khader Adnan ends hunger strike protesting against his administrative detention. What is an administrative detention?

The hunger strike of Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan from December 17 to denounce his detention without trial by Israel ended today with an agreement between the parties: Adnan left his hunger strike in exchange for his administrative detention not being renewed on April 17.

The media has not spread very much Khader Adnan´s case, but his action has brought back to the forefront (at least locally) the famous "administrative Israeli detentions". These arrests are based on secret evidence and can be extended an undefined number of times, skipping all international laws.

That's how they work:

One hundred soldiers arrive, usually at night, at the home of the suspect with dogs and throwing sound bombs. They force him out, handcuff and blindfold him and then push him into the military jeep. Neither he nor his family are informed about of what´s his crime or where they are taking him to. The suspect is transferred to an interrogation center where, through threats, verbal abuse and even torture, always without the presence of his lawyer, he is forced to confess about anything. According to Israeli military orders, a Palestinian can be held in detention without trial up to 90 days. Sometimes a written confession in Hebrew is given to the prisoner, which he usually is forced to sign, not knowing what he is signing because he doesn´t understand. Nevertheless, the document is used as the main evidence in the military court.

Otherwise, there´s the "administrative detention". That means holding a prisoner up to six months in jail based on "secret evidence". The lawyer, who founds himself looking for his client through all prisons and detention centers, does not know what he has to defend the detainee from, and often he cannot even talk to the detainee (as well as his family) because the prison is located on the Israeli side of the wall (in contravention of the Fourth Geneva Convention which prohibits transferring detainees from the occupied territory to the occupier side.) Permits for lawyer or family to gain access to the prisoner are often dismissed for "security reasons".

After 6 months, the order may be renewed, and so on, indefinetly.

Khader Adnan has gone through 6 administrative detentions and he was remained in prison for a cumulative period of 5 years. This last time, he spent 3 weeks in an interrogation center before the official start of his administrative detention. Israel accuses him of being part of Islamic Jihad, violent and very unpopular in Israel, the West Bank and the West. However, they Israel hasn´t shown any clear evidence or charges against him so far and, as a Palestinian activist who once suffered 2 administrative detentions told me today: "If he did something wrong, nothing prevents him from having a trial as any other suspect and be condemned for it. What we don´t accept is people being imprisoned for no reason.”

Children. Under Israeli law, an Israeli adult is sombeody over 18 years old. According to military orders ruling the Palestinian occupied territory, a Palestinian adult is somebody over 16 years old. Until the army put into force a new military order in July 2009, children as young as 12 were judged in military courts and received the same punishment as adults. Regarding the rest (the treatment in prison, interrogation and administrative detentions) there are few changes.

When the boy finally comes to court, he´s judged according to the age he is when he gets his sentence, not the age he was when he committed the crime. That means that if a kid is 15 years old when he´s arrested but turns 16 during arrest, before trial, he´s tried as an adult.

Only a prison provides education to children, but it only teaches mathematics and arts; all other subjects are banned because of "security reasons".

Women. Let us add to all this sexual harassment during interrogations, indistinct treatment and lack of care for pregnant women, who sometimes give birth while chained to a bed "for security reasons" and we´ll get the treatment given to some of the women. Four of these cases occurred between 2004 and 2008.

There are currently 307 Palestinian prisoners in "administrative detention" and 280 Israeli Palestinian children in Israeli prisons (2012).

(Data from Addameer for Palestinian political prisoners and Defense Children International Palestine)