 |  | [Ramallah, 16 July 2009] – On 16 July 2009, DCI-Palestine filed a submission with the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on behalf of Wa’ad al-Hidmy (UA 5/09), seeking the adoption of an Opinion by the UN body that Wa’ad’s administrative detention constitutes an arbitrary detention in contravention of international law.
Wa’ad was arrested by Israeli soldiers from his home near the West Bank city of Hebron at 3am on 28 April 2008. Wa’ad has been held without charge or trial ever since and received a fifth administrative detention order on 21 June 2009. Wa’ad was 16 years old when he was first arrested.
Administrative detention
Administrative detention is detention without charge or trial and is often based on ‘secret evidence’. Israeli Military Order 1591 empowers military commanders to detain Palestinians, including children as young as 12, for up to six months if they have ‘reasonable grounds to presume that the security of the area or public security require the detention’. The initial six month period can be extended by additional six-month periods indefinitely. This procedure denies the detainee the right to a fair trial and the ability to adequately challenge the basis of his or her detention.
There are currently around 428 Palestinian men, women and children in administrative detention. For more information visit the DCI-Palestine website at Freedom Now.
To take action, please follow this link and write to your elected representatives and/or the Israeli authorities demanding an end to the practice of detaining children without charge or trial in administrative detention. | 
