A/HRC/37/42 20. The main legal basis for administrative detention by Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is Military Order 1651, 28 which empowers military commanders to detain a person for a period of time not exceeding six months, if they have reasonable grounds to believe that detention is required for reasons related to regional or public security.29 Detention orders may be extended for additional periods of up to six months, with no legal limit on the number of renewals, hence allowing for the indefinite detention of a person.30 The legal basis for administrative detention can be found in two other Israeli laws: the Emergency Powers (Detention) Law of 197931 and the Incarceration of Unlawful Combatants Law of 2002.32 While the former is the only one pertaining to East Jerusalem, the latter is generally used to detain Palestinians from Gaza. Both laws grant broad discretionary power to issue detention orders that can be indefinitely renewed. 21. These laws do not conform with international human rights law. Detention should not last longer than absolutely necessary and the overall length of possible detention should be limited. 33 International human rights law also provides that grounds for arrest or detention must be prescribed by law and should be defined with sufficient precision to avoid overly broad or arbitrary interpretation or application. 34 The vague and undefined reasons provided by Israeli laws to justify administrative detention effectively allow the Israeli authorities to use administrative detention as an alternative to criminal proceedings, mainly when there is not sufficient evidence to charge an individual, or when the authorities do not reveal the available evidence.35 22. Administrative detention is also used to keep individuals incarcerated following the completion of their sentence, as exemplified by the case of Bilal Kayed. Convicted in March 2003, he was completing a prison sentence of 14 and a half years when a 6-month administrative detention order was issued against him, 6 days before his expected release on 7 June 2016, on the ground that his membership of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine would endanger security. He was eventually released on 13 December 2016, after a 71-day hunger strike.36 As described in previous reports, numerous detainees have resorted to hunger strikes to protest against and raise attention regarding their indeterminate detention without formal charges.37 23. Although Israeli legislation provides for judicial review and guarantees the right to legal counsel, the opportunity to challenge detention is usually undermined by the fact that, in the vast majority of cases, evidence remains classified on grounds of State security. 38 Hence, neither the detainee nor the lawyer is informed of the allegations and detention grounds, undermining any effective right to challenge the detention. Human rights law prescribes that the detainee should at least have access to the essence of the evidence on which decisions are taken. 39 The High Commissioner remains deeply concerned by the policy of administrative detention by Israel on vague or undisclosed security grounds, in lengthy processes where individuals are deprived of core due process guarantees. In 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 6 See Military Order regarding Security Provisions [Consolidated Version] (Judea and Samaria) (No. 1651). Available from http://nolegalfrontiers.org/en/military-orders/mil01/67-security-provisionschapter9-271-315 (English translation). Ibid., sect. 285 (A). Ibid., sect. 285 (B). See www.btselem.org/sites/default/files/1979_emergency_powers_law_detention_0.pdf. See www.hamoked.org/files/2011/240_eng.pdf. See Human Rights Committee general comment No. 35 (2014), para. 15. Ibid., para. 22. See www.btselem.org/administrative_detention/occupied_territories. See A/HRC/34/36, para. 23. See A/HRC/34/38, para. 53; A/71/364, para. 35; and A/69/347, para. 28. See Military Order regarding Security Provisions [Consolidated Version] (Judea and Samaria) (No. 1651). Available from http://nolegalfrontiers.org/en/military-orders/mil01/67-security-provisionschapter9-271-315 (English translation), sects. 290–291; see also Emergency Powers (Detention) Law of 1979, arts. 6 and 8. Available from www.btselem.org/sites/default/files/1979_emergency_powers_law_detention_0.pdf. See Human Rights Committee general comment No. 35, para. 15.