العربية
HE
العربية
HE
On October 28, 2009, during routine passage through a checkpoint, a Palestinian man, married and father of three, was arrested by the military. Although he has been living for over a decade in the Silwad Village in the West Bank, his formal address in the population registry has never been changed, and remains in the Gaza Strip. On these grounds, the military decided to forcibly remove him to Gaza, claiming he was illegally present in the West Bank.
Following HaMoked's urgent petition, and the court's harsh criticism on the military's position, the state revoked the deportation order, but unexpectedly replaced it with an administrative detention order for six months. The military claimed that the detention order was based on classified information which pointed to a threat posed by the detainee. Note, in the initial arrest, the military did not raised any security claims against the man, and only claimed the man had "illegally infiltrated" the West Bank.
On January 28, 2010, in a judicial review of the detention order, HaMoked pointed to the error in the material submitted by the military prosecution, which was based on evidence concerning the detainee's brother and not the detainee himself. HaMoked asserted that his detention was arbitrary and prompted by extraneous considerations, namely, to pressure him to relocate to Gaza. The military acknowledged that the decision to issue an administrative detention order followed the criticism of the High Court of Justice of the deportation order, but maintained that it possessed – classified – "negative security material" – on which to base the detention. After reviewing the classified material, the judge decided to uphold the detention order, but stipulated that it should be shortened, given the extended time which already elapsed from the date of his arrest under the deportation order.
Both HaMoked and the military appealed the decision. The judge in the military appeals court accepted the military's appeal, ruling that although "administrative detention is a harsh and draconian procedure […] the existence of a previous consecutive detention period, does not warrant in and of itself a deduction of the same period". Therefore, the judge decided to restore the six month term of detention.
The administrative detention order was extended four more times (!), until November 24, 2011 – more than two years after his arrest – the military court, endorsing the detention, ruled that the detention order should be shortened by 45 days, according to the principle of proportionality and in view of the prolonged detention. In the hearing of HaMoked's appeal against this decision, the judge of the military appeals court determined that "the force of the actions and intentions [upon which the detention was based] cannot justify the continuation of the detention". The judge upheld the reduction of the detention period, ruling that the administrative detention cannot be extended further unless new substantial material is received concerning the detainee.
On January 5, 2012, the man was released. Despite the initial grounds for arrest and the military's attempt to forcibly transfer him to the Gaza Strip, the man returned to his home in the West Bank, after spending more than 24 months in prison. The military still refuses to update his address in the population registry to the West Bank. He will continue to live under the threat of forced removal to Gaza, at least until a decision is made in HaMoked's general petition on the updating of addresses in the military's copy of the population registry.
