UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations Human Rights Committee urged Israeli authorities on Thursday to heed the desperate plea by Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike under arbitrary “administrative detention’, and inform them of the charges.

The committee expressed grave grave concerns about the reported worsening health of more than 75 Palestinian detainees now on hunger strike. It asked Israel to end the practice and tell them what they are accused of so they can mount a defence.

“It is a desperate plea by these detainees to be afforded a very basic standard of due process: to know what they are accused of and to be able to defend themselves,” said the UN Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories.

“International humanitarian law only exceptionally allows for the use of administrative detention, yet the Israeli authorities have detained a large number of Palestinians for reasons not explicitly indicated. Initial administrative detention orders of six-month periods can be renewed an indefinite number of times without producing charges,” the committee noted.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2014