Reduction of Tamer Khalifa's Administrative Detention Duration by Two Months

SadaNews - The Central Court in Haifa reduced today, Thursday, the administrative detention period for activist Tamer Khalifa from Umm al-Fahm by two months, in relation to his earlier six-month administrative detention, according to the decision Khalifa will be released on July 2.

The court had considered defense requests that called for his release or a reduction of the detention period, ultimately opting for a partial reduction instead of a complete cancellation.

Israeli Minister of Security, Israel Katz, had imposed an administrative detention of six months on Khalifa on March 25, following a week of house arrest.

Khalifa was represented by both the "Adalah" legal center, represented by lawyer Dr. Hassan Jabareen, and the "Mizan" human rights center, represented by lawyer Omar Khmaisi.

Khalifa was arrested on March 2 from his home in the Al-Ayoun neighborhood of Umm al-Fahm after the officers searched and ransacked his belongings, then he was later re-arrested from home detention in Haifa and transferred to administrative detention.

Farida Mohammed Shreem, the mother of administrative detainee Tamer Khalifa, said that her son's detention case represents a "repeated injustice," indicating that he was re-arrested just a week after being released and placed under house arrest, only to be re-arrested later administratively for six months.

She added that the conditions of his detention have increased the family's suffering, explaining that at the time of his re-arrest, his wife was pregnant, and she later gave birth to their son Hadi, making Tamer a father of three children while still in prison, considering this a great injustice against him despite the decision to reduce his detention period.

Shreem pointed to his conditions inside prison, clarifying that he is currently held in Megiddo prison, and that upon entering the detention center, his hair was completely cut, with signs of fatigue and exhaustion visible on him.

She concluded her remarks by highlighting what she described as ongoing suffering within the family, stating that her three sons had previously been arrested and imprisoned, and her brother Raja Ighbaria was detained, while her son Ahmad is facing trial, while Tamer remains under what she termed arbitrary administrative detention.

Lawyers: Courts Rarely Reduce Administrative Detention Orders

Dr. Hassan Jabareen, director of the "Adalah" legal center, stated that the court decided to reduce Tamer's administrative detention from six months to four months.

Jabareen considered that the issue of administrative detention raises a clear legal problem, as it involves detaining individuals without charges or trials, which he described as a violation of legal, international, and constitutional standards.

He added that courts typically do not intervene to reduce administrative detention durations, but this decision came after the legal arguments submitted in the case, which contributed to changing the detention duration.

For his part, Omar Khmaisi, director of the "Mizan" human rights center, explained in a conversation with "Arab 48" that Tamer's situation is not exceptional but reflects the reality of dozens of young men in the Arab community who languish in Israeli prisons without sufficient suspicions to present indictments against them, making administrative detention, in his words, an arbitrary and unjust measure.

Khmaisi stressed the importance of highlighting cases of administrative detention, calling for a broader movement from leaders and human rights institutions to support detainees and their families in confronting these policies.

Source: Arab 48