Open letter concerning the draft law on "Imprisonment of Combatants not Entitled to Prisoner-of-War Status", 26.7.2000

To the Knesset
Att.: His Excellency, Prime Minister Ehud Barak; Foreign Minister David Levy; Minister of Justice Joseph Beilin; Dan Meridor, Chair of the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee of the Knesset; Avraham Burg, Speaker of the Knesset.

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN) has noted with concern that the Knesset passed the first reading of a draft law "Imprisonment of Combatants not Entitled to Prisoner-of-War Status" on 21 June, 2000 and that the second reading and possible adoption of the law will follow this week.

According to our information, this law would create a category of "combatants who are not prisoners of war", thus nullifying the distinction between combatants and civilians made in internation law and dillute the protections given to civilians under the 4th Geneva Convention. The law furthermore allows sweeping use of administrative detention as the main sanction, and not only in exceptional cases as allowed by international law. It grant broad powers to the military to detain a person who it deems to be a ‘combatant who is not a prisoner of war’ - an order which can only be denounced by the Ministry of Defense. In this way, the law essentially allows the holding of hostages for an unlimited period of time.

The EMHRN therefore expresses its concern that the passing of such a law will run counter to central elements of the Convention on Civil and Political Rights, to which Israel is a party and that it will represent a step back for the promotion and protection of human rights within the framework of the Barcelona Process, to which Israel has committed itself, most recently through the Association agreement with the EU, article 2 of which states that respect for the democratic principles and fundamental human rights shall inspire the Parties’ domestic and external policies.

The EMHRN therefore asks the Knesset and the Israeli government specifically to make sure that the new law is drafted in accordance with Israels human rights commitments, and if not so, prevent the law from being passed.

The EMHRN furthermore urges Israel to implement the ruling by the Supreme Court of Israel in April 2000 stating that it is illegal to hold people in administrative detention who are not personally posing a threat to Israel’s security by releasing the two lebanese citizens, Sheikh ‘Abd al-Karim Obeid and Mustapha Dirani who are held in Israeli detention since July 1989 and May 1994 respectively.