The Palestinian Prisoner Center for Studies (PPCS) has applauded the position stated recently by the European Union (EU) against Israel’s administrative detention of Palestinians as a “good step but said it is not enough to end this systematic policy.
In a press release on Sunday spokesman for the center Riyadh al-Ashqar said that the EU’s condemnation of Israel’s administrative detention policy was good because it came from an influential international body.
Ashqar added that the position was also a good step to highlight one of the Israeli violations against the Palestinians but he stressed the need for concrete efforts to pressure Israel to end such detention policy.
“The situation cannot stand any further statements of condemnation and disapproval because years of the prisoners’ lives go by in Israeli jails without indictments or legal grounds” he stated.
The EU office in Occupied Jerusalem released a statement a few days ago voicing concern over Israel’s excessive use of administrative imprisonment with no indictments or trials against the Palestinians.
It said that it was especially concerned about the deteriorating health conditions of prisoners Anas Shadeed and Ahmed Abu Fara who have been on hunger strike for over two and a half months in protest at their detention administratively.
According to its statement there are more than 700 Palestinian administrative detainees including three minors in Israeli jails.
The EU called on Israel to respect its international human rights obligations towards all prisoners and enable them to have access to legal assistance and be subject to fair trials.
