GENEVA/PARIS (WAFA)- The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders called Friday for an immediate and unconditional release of a Palestinian administrative detainee whose detention has been extended by an Israeli order for four additional months.
The Observatory, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), said it has been informed by Al-Haq, a Palestinian human rights NGO, that the administrative detention of Mr. Ziyad Muhamed Shehadeh Hmeidan, one of Al-Haq fieldworkers, was again extended.
According to the information received, on July 18, 2006, Mr. Hmeidan received a letter informing him that his administrative detention will be extended for a further four months. His current order was scheduled to expire on July 20, 2006. This new order will expire on November 19, 2006.
The Observatory recalled that the Israeli authorities have justified Mr. Ziyad Hmeidan's detention on the basis of "secret evidence."
It considered that these measures are in flagrant violation of article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Israel is party, which states, in particular, that "anyone who is arrested shall be informed, at the time of arrest, of the reasons of his arrest and shall be promptly informed of any charges against him".
THe Observatory said fears Mr. Ziyad Hmeidan's detention to be linked with his monitoring and documenting of violations of international human rights and humanitarian law in the Bethlehem area of the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
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