On May 8, hunger strikers
Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahleh reached day 71.
On May 7, Israel's High Court ruled let 'em die. It rejected an urgent
appeal to save them. They're uncharged political prisoners, not criminals.
Virtually all Palestinian prisoners are behind bars for political reasons.
They resist to live free on their own land. International law permits
it. Israel calls it terrorism.
Its High Court agrees. Justice hasn't a chance. Arab rights don't matter.
Let 'em die.
The Court ruled hunger striking "cannot in itself form a factor in the
decision regarding the validity of an administrative detention."
"Administrative detention causes unease for any judge, but it is sometimes
a necessity when the revealing of intelligence gathered against the
petitioner would endanger the people who gave it or the ways of gathering
it."
Wrong, and justices know it! Prolonged uncharged arbitrary detention
constitutes a serious breach of international law.
Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
states:
1. "Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No one
shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention. No one shall be
deprived of his liberty except on such grounds and in accordance with
such procedures as are established by law.
2. Anyone who is arrested shall be informed, at the time of arrest,
of the reasons for his arrest and shall be promptly informed of any
charges against him.
4. Anyone who is deprived of his liberty by arrest or detention shall
be entitled to take proceedings before a court, in order that that court
may decide without delay on the lawfulness of his detention and order
his release if the detention is not lawful."
Although temporarily infringing the law is permitted "in time of public
emergency which threatens the life of the nation," Israel uses it consistently,
abusively, and in violation of Fourth Geneva's Article 78, stating:
"If the Occupying Power considers it necessary, for imperative reasons
of security, to take measures concerning protected persons, it may,
at the most, subject them to assigned residence or to internment."
"Decisions regarding such assigned residence or internment shall be
made according to a regular procedure to be prescribed by the Occupying
Power in accordance with the provisions of the present Convention. This
procedure shall include the right of appeal (decided on) with the least
possible delay. (If it's upheld), it shall be subject to periodical
review...."
Administrative detention may never substitute for customary criminal
proceedings. It's only permitted as a temporary measure to prevent lawless
acts.
Moreover, transferring protected persons to occupying power territory
is illegal. For Israel, it's policy.
On May 8, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-I) condemned the court
ruling, saying:
"The Supreme Court's rejection of court petitions in name of the administrative
detainees Diab and Halahlah, each of who are in the their 71st day of
hunger strike in protest of their administrative detention, is the effective
equivalent of handing down a death sentence."
"By way of this decision, the judges are tightening their hold on administrative
detainees, which, due to the absense of concrete evidence, the inability
of the detainee to defend himself in court and the unlimited renewal
of his/her detention term, constitutes a full negation of liberties
and human freedom."
"This is not a stand-alone case. We are talking here about 2 people
out of a population of 320 administrative detainees who are currently
serving time under identical constraints; their access to a fair trial
is blantantly and continuously denied."
"This ruling renders even more evident the enormous costs of the Occupation
and Israeli control over Palestinians, which destroys any semblance
of justice. The unacceptable standards that were once practiced by military
courts alone are gradually becoming the same shameful norm by which
the Supreme Court itself issues its own rulings."
"We call upon Israeli leaders at the highest echelons to act swiftly
to bring about a solution that will save the lives of the detainees
on hunger strike and uphold their rights."
Israel's High Court tilts right. After Dorit Beinisch retired last February,
Asher Grunis replaced her as president. His ideology is conservative.
He defers to executive and legislative decisions. Right-wing politicians
and bureaucrats love him.
Smoothing his way to become court president, Israel's Knesset abolished
the rule requiring justices to have at least three years left to serve
before mandatory age 70 retirement.
Asher reaches it in 2015, five weeks short of eligibility. That was
before the Knesset fast-tracked the so-called "Grunis bill's" passage.
Netanyahu wanted him appointed.
In January, Noam Sohlberg became Israel's first settler High Court justice.
Controversy surrounds him. His appointment ignored conflicts of interest.
Living on stolen land should have disqualified him.
He'll now rule on international law issues. His record is anti-liberal.
At age 50, he'll likely become court president. Seniority is the main
qualification.
Israel's High Court rarely rules favorably for Palestinians. Monday's
ruling highlights what they're up against.
Jawad Boulos represents Balil and Thaer. After Israel conditionally
released Khader Adnan and Hana Shalabi, he feared policy henceforth
will be let 'em die. Indefinite administrative detentions facilitate
it.
Right-wing courts go along. Justices bow to Shin Bet, other security
forces, and the Israel Prison Service. One section of their ruling said:
"The supreme court justices aren’t telling the security forces what
to do, only pointing out that they could use such-and-such a provision.
What we do not see in that verdict is a judiciary that feels it is of
equal power to the security forces."
In other words, Israel's highest judicial authority defers to lawless
state policy. Palestinian prisoners society head Qaddura Fares accused
the court of being politically motivated, saying:
"The court knows the gravity of (the) status and health (of Bilal and
Thaer), but it has decided to reject their petition. This court is a
tool of" Israel's security services. Justice is sacrificed for them.
Palestinians are harmed most. Bilal, Thaer and other hunger strikers
may die. Let 'em, the court ruled.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
His new book is titled "How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized
Banking, Government Collusion and Class War"
http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge
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