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Announcement :: Civil & Human Rights

Bill will allow holding Palestinians incommunicado for 50 days

Action alert email from Israeli human rights group B'Tselem
The Israeli Cabinet's Ministerial Committee for Legislation recently approved a bill that will allow non-residents of Israel who are suspected of having committed security offenses to he held almost completely incommunicado for fifty days. The bill is expected to be brought before the Knesset plenum for a first reading in the coming days. If enacted, the law will severely breach the fundamental rights of suspects in criminal proceedings, and increase the risk of maltreatment during interrogations.

The bill empowers the General Security Service to delay bringing persons suspected of committing security offenses before a judge for a period of ninety-six hours, and to prevent the suspect from meeting with an attorney for a cumulative period of fifty days, upon judicial approval. Of even more concern is that following the initial approval of detention, the court may extend the detention in the absence of the suspect at the hearing.

The right of a detainee to maintain ongoing contact with the external world is one of the guarantees that the detention will not be used as means of pressure, and is a protection against torture during interrogation. This bill illegally discriminates against detainees based on their residency, with Israeli residents being treated one way and foreign residents – the bill is intended particularly for Gaza residents – in a different way. Such discrimination flagrantly breaches the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and gravely infringes the detainees' rights.

Time to act!

Write to MK Michael Eitan, Chair of the Knesset's Law Committee and request that he remove the proposed law from the Knesset's agenda. MK Eitan may be reached by fax at +972-2-6496404, or by e-mail at meitan (at) knesset.gov.il.
 
 

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