Article 9 of the ICCPR as well, yet its use can be legal within strict parameters.172
According to Article 4 of the ICCPR, states may derogate from their obligations
to uphold those rights “In time of public emergency which threatens the life
of the nation,” but only “to the extent strictly required by the exigencies of the
situation, provided that such measures are not inconsistent with their other
obligations under international law and do not involve discrimination solely
on the ground of race, color, sex, language, religion or social origin.” Article
78 of the Fourth Geneva Convention also maintains the obligations of an
occupying power to detain a person only “for imperative reasons of security”
and upholds their right to appeal the detention at the earliest opportunity.
Israeli Policies and Practices
Frequent arrests, particularly mass arrest campaigns, have been one of the
most prevalent tactics used by Israeli forces to suppress Palestinian resistance
and political life. It is estimated that between 1967 and 2015, 800,000
Palestinians in the oPt were arrested,173 approximately 10,000 of whom were
women and 8,000 of whom were children arrested after the year 2000. This
number is equivalent to 20 percent of the population in the oPt and up to 40
percent of the total male population.174 Many mass arrests in the oPt are not
prompted by evidence of wrongdoing by the selected individuals but rather
during times of heightened political activity or events. These practices amount
to a collective punishment of the entire Palestinian population175 that leads
to widespread fear, insecurity and suppression of free expression or dissent.
“They arrest us because we, as Palestinians, refuse the occupation. This is the
main reason why we are arrested. The purpose for arresting us is twofold: the
first is to stop the Palestinian resistance against the occupation. The Israelis
think that doing this will reduce our violence against them. The second reason
is to try and change our minds about the occupation, to empty our minds from
everything we know about Palestine. The Israelis use tricks and deception that
results in our arrests and keeps us imprisoned for a long time.”
Palestinian political prisoner
Interview: January 2016
172 ICCPR, Article 9
173 Addameer, On Administrative detention, December 2015. Available at: http://www.addameer.org/
israeli_military_judicial_system/administrative_detention
174 Addameer, Palestinian Political Prisoners in Israeli Prisons, January 2014. Available at: http://
www.addameer.org/files/Palestinian%20Political%20Prisoners%20in%20Israeli%20Prisons%20
(General%20Briefing%20January%202014).pdf
175 Addameer, On Human Rights Day: Israeli Occupation Continues to Carry Out Mass Arrests of
Palestinians and Subject them to Abuse, 10 December 2015. Available at: http://www.addameer.
org/news/human-rights-day-israeli-occupation-continues-carry-out-mass-arrests-palestinians-andsubject
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