GENEVA (31 October 2019) – UN human rights experts* called on Israel to immediately release Heba Al-Labadi, a
Palestinian woman with Jordanian nationality, who was placed in solitary confinement after an Israeli military court
sentenced her to administrative detention without trial.
According to information received by the experts, Israeli security forces arrested Ms. Al-Labadi at the Allenby Bridge
border crossing on 20 August 2019 while she was travelling with her family to attend a wedding in Jenin. Following her
arrest, she was subjected to 30 days of interrogation in the Petah Tikva interrogation centre. During her interrogation,
which sometimes extended to 20 hours a day, she was tied to a chair and placed in a painful position.
“We are gravely concerned that Ms. Al-Labadi was subjected to treatment during her interrogation that could amount to
torture and ill-treatment,” the experts said. “We are especially troubled by the fact that Ms. Al Labadi was denied
access to a lawyer for a period of three weeks and has not yet been allowed to see her family.”
On 24 September, an Israeli military court sentenced Ms. Al-Labadi to five months of administrative detention, and
transferred her to Kishon detention facility (Al-Jalamah), where she was held in solitary confinement. The charges or
evidence against Ms. Al-Labadi were not communicated to her nor were they made public, the experts said. Following her
sentencing, Ms. Al-Labadi launched a hunger strike, which is currently in its sixth week. As a result, she has been
suffering from several medical conditions. On 27 October she was admitted to hospital in Haifa.
“Ms. Al-Labadi’s deteriorating health as a result of her protest is of serious concern,” the experts said. “The use of
solitary confinement against Ms. Al-Labadi for 30 consecutive days during her administrative detention is not a
legitimate instrument of a State as it may cause severe mental and physical pain and suffering.” UN experts have
previously stated that prolonged periods of solitary confinement may amount to torture.
Administrative detention is widely used by Israel as an alternative to criminal proceedings, especially in cases where
there is insufficient evidence to charge the person. While administrative detention as such is not prohibited under
international law, it is permitted only in exceptional circumstances and subject to stringent safeguards. Israel
practices a form of administrative detention that relies on the use of secret evidence, fails to provide reasons for the
arrest, allows for indefinite detention through consecutive administrative detention orders without charges or trials
and is often based on military jurisdiction, among others.
“We call on Israel to abolish this form of administrative detention, where individuals are deprived of core due process
guarantees,” the experts said. “Israel’s wide practice of administrative detention is incompatible with international
humanitarian law and international human rights law.”