ISRAEL AND THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES／PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY：
CHILD RELEASED FROM ADMINISTRATIVE DETENTION

A 16-year-old Palestinian boy, Abed al-Rahman Awad Kmail, was arrested by Israeli forces on 4 February while he was sleeping. He was placed under a four month administrative detention order and spent his 17th birthday in prison.

Abed al-Rahman Awad Kmail, from Qabatiya, south of Jenin, was given a six month administrative detention order on 11 February. A military judge reduced the order to four months on review on 16 February. Abed al-Rahman Awad Kmail spent his 17th birthday in prison.

Administrative detention allows for indefinite detention without charge or trial and is increasingly used against children. Orders are used by the Israeli military predominantly against Palestinians and can be renewed indefinitely. Abed al-Rahman Awad Kmail’s family told Amnesty International that he was arrested by Israeli forces at 2.00 am on 4 February while he was sleeping. He was held at the nearby Jalamah checkpoint for three days and transferred to Megiddo prison in northern Israel. Abed al-Rahman Awad Kmail says that he was never interrogated and does not know why he is detained.

Mohammed Ghaith, Fadi Abbasi, and Kathem Sbeih, all 17-year-old Palestinians from East Jerusalem, who were arrested in October 2015, were the first children to be held in administrative detention in almost four years (see UA: 248/15 at https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde15/2792/2015/en/). They were released on 19 January once their detention orders expired. Since then at least 13 more children were detained administratively, 11 of whom remained in detention as of 26 April. One of them – a 17-year-old from Ya’bad, Jenin – was arrested while he was sleeping after Israeli soldiers broke down the door of his house at 4.00 am on 2 March. He said he was interrogated for 39 hours in Salem detention centre (in the occupied West Bank) in connection with incitement to violence on social media, which he denies. He was given a three month administrative detention order on 14 March and is now in Megiddo prison.

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UA: 101/16 Index: MDE 15/3934/2016 Issue Date: 29 April 2016

Abed al-Rahman Awad Kmail was released by the Israeli authorities from administrative detention on 2 October after nearly eight months in detention in Megiddo prison inside Israel. He had spent his 17th birthday in detention.

Abed al-Rahman Awad Kmail was arrested from his home in Qabatia, Jenin, on 4 February, and given a six month administrative detention order on 11 February, which a judge reduced to four months on 16 February. However, he received an additional four month order when the first expired. He was released on 2 October after a military judge ruled that the order should not be renewed an additional time. 

According to the NGO Defence for Children International – Palestine (DCI), since October 2015, 19 Palestinian children have been issued with administrative detention orders. Of those, 12 have been released without charge. Two have been transferred to the courts and were charged. Of the remaining five, at least one has turned 18 while in detention, leaving four children still in administrative detention. 

No further action is requested from the UA network. Many thanks to all who sent appeals.

This is the first update of UA 101/16. Further information: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/MDE15/3934/2016/en/

Further information on UA: 101/16 Index: MDE 15/5255/2016 Issue Date: 5 December 2016