A/HRC/20/32 respect for their persons, their honour, their family rights, their religious convictions and practices, and their manners and customs. They shall at all times be humanely treated, and shall be protected especially against all acts of violence or threats thereof and against insults and public curiosity.‖ Further, articles 71 to 73 indicate that any kind of prison sentence must be pronounced by a ―competent‖ court in which the person accused has access to the evidence against them and the opportunity to present evidence with the assistance of legal counsel. Articles 7, 9, and 10 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights are clear in their prohibition of ―inhuman and degrading treatment‖ and of ―arbitrary detention‖ as well of the rights of anyone accused of criminal conduct to have an opportunity to mount a defense in a competent court. For instance, article 9, paragraph 2 declares: ―Anyone who is arrested shall be informed, at the time of arrest, of the reasons for his arrest and shall be promptly informed of the charges against him.‖ 14. It is time, in the judgment of the Special Rapporteur, that the Human Rights Council initiate specific action to condemn the reliance on administrative detention in relation to Palestinian civilians living under prolonged occupation. After 45 years, it is no longer credible to contend that the special security considerations that gave rise to the administrative detention law during the period of British Mandate control of Palestine still should allow military administrators to routinely order administrative detention, often for years. Under these circumstances it would be appropriate for the Council to act on its concerns regarding reliance by Israel upon administrative detention, and possibly its broader concerns regarding Israeli occupation policies, by commissioning a study of the practice of administrative detention in relation to the obligations of an occupying power towards an occupied people. The current series of ongoing hunger strikes, which may well represent only the beginning of a broader trend, are shining a bright light on the malpractice of administrative detention, and more generally on Israeli prison conditions, challenging the United Nations to take action. It should be noted that the practice of administrative detention is now also in use by a number of other Governments in the context of ―antiterrorism‖ policies; some of those Governments appear to be relying on the Israeli model, thus raising the violations of international law and human rights inherent in administrative detention to the level of an international, not only Israeli, concern. 5 15. During the mission, the Special Rapporteur met with the Minister of Prisoners’ Affairs of the Palestinian Authority, Issa Qaraqe, who provided further information on the current scope of administrative detention, but also discussed the full range of grievances associated with conditions confronting the approximately 4,300 Palestinians currently confined to Israeli prisons. Among the violations that the Minister mentioned were the following: denial of family visits for periods as long as five years; frequent imposition of solitary confinement, sometimes for as long as 10 years, with severe psychological and physical harmful effects; reliance on an ―illegal combatant law‖ to permit continued detention after the term of imprisonment has expired, applied to nine prisoners from Gaza; detention of children for long periods without family access and held far from the place of residence, with reports of torture and coerced confessions; and initial interrogations frequently held at Israeli settlements beyond the reach of the International Committee of the Red Cross, family members and lawyers. The large number of Palestinians languishing in Israeli jails is itself a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, article 76, which requires that detention take place within the territory under occupation, and prohibits their transfer to prisons in the territory of the occupying power. It is a tragic display of double standards that so much international attention, even solemn international appeals, were dedicated to a single Israel soldier held in captivity for several years, while no significant effort is made to 5 8 For video on administrative detention and hunger strikes, see http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php? option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=8123