December 12, 2024 23:59 (IST)

Make this your homepage

Foreign

UP teenager kills mother, lives with body for 5 days | At least six people including a child killed in Tamil Nadu hospital fire | Amid Atul Subhash row, SC says mere harassment is not enough to prove abetment to suicide | India's D Gukesh becomes youngest ever world champion in chess | Devendra Fadnavis meets PM Modi amid suspense over Maharashtra portfolio allocation | Congress wants to deviate the issue of Sonia Gandhi-George Soros link: JP Nadda | Bengaluru techie suicide: Atul Subhash's family demanded Rs. 10 lakh as dowry leading to my father's death, claims estranged wife | Syria rebels torch tomb of ousted president Bashar al-Assad's father | Donald Trump vows to eliminate birthright citizenship after taking charge | No alliance with Congress in Delhi polls: AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal

Ban concerned over Palestinian detainees on hunger strike

India Blooms News Service | | Jun 07, 2014, at 06:49 pm

#Ban Ki-Moon # Palestinian detainees # Hunger Strike #

New York, Jun 7 (IBNS): United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced concern on Friday about reports regarding the deteriorating health of Palestinian administrative detainees who have been on hunger strike for over a month.

“He reiterates his long-standing position that administrative detainees should be charged or released without delay,” Ban’s spokesperson said in a statement.

The Secretary-General’s concerns on these issues were recently reiterated to the Israeli Government by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay.

The High Commissioner also expressed concerns regarding a legislative amendment before the Israeli Knesset, or parliament, which would permit force-feeding and medical treatment of prisoners on hunger strike against their will under certain conditions, in contravention of international standards.

“The Secretary-General has taken note of the related concerns raised recently by various human rights organizations and has responded, reiterating the United Nations well known positions,” said his spokesperson.

On Thursday, members of a UN committee urged Israel to end the practice of administrative detention and heed the “desperate plea” of prisoners to be told what they are accused of so they can mount a defence.

“It is a desperate plea by these detainees to be afforded a very basic standard of due process: to know what they are accused of and to be able to defend themselves,” the UN Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories said in a press release.

According to the Committee, a first group of around 100 Palestinian administrative detainees launched a peaceful protest on 24 April 2014 and were later joined by more detainees. The total number of hunger strikers now stands at 290, with more expected to join in the coming weeks.

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.