Zionist draconian rule of detention without trial highlighted

(MENAFN- Arab News) JERUSALEM: A Palestinian prisoner's hunger strike has sparked new calls for Israel to curb its use of a form of detention without trial with activists charging routine abuse of a measure aimed at preventing attacks.
Mohammed Allan 31 ended his hunger strike on Thursday after Israel's top court suspended his administrative detention. He had twice been in a coma.
The lawyer said to be a member of the militant group Islamic Jihad had been held since November and has reportedly vowed to resume fasting if the courts reinstate administrative detention against him.
The measure allows internment without trial for six-month intervals that can be renewed indefinitely with Israeli officials saying it is an essential tool in preventing attacks and protecting sensitive intelligence because it allows authorities to keep evidence secret.
It has been strongly criticized by rights activists who have called on Israeli authorities to prosecute or release such detainees.
Rights groups say international law allows for such detention under extreme circumstances but that Israel uses it as a punitive measure that circumvents the justice system or as a crutch to avoid trial.
Activists have called on Israeli authorities to charge or release those held under administrative detention.
'Our research into the way Israel uses administrative detention vis-a-vis Palestinians concludes that Israel violates this very narrow allowance and uses it in a very wide extensive way' said Sarit Michaeli spokeswoman for Israeli rights group B'Tselem.
This is 'unacceptable legally and morally' she said.
According to B'Tselem some 370 Palestinians are currently held in administrative detention compared to three alleged Jewish extremists.