Lawyers to challenge an Israeli military order on prisoners

Lawyers representing human rights organizations are planning to challenge in court an Israeli military order that allows a military committee to sentence released prisoners based on secret evidence, a press statement said Monday. The Ramallah-based Addameer human rights organization said several lawyers are going to file on Wednesday a petition in the Israeli High Court regarding Article 186 in Military Order 1651. Article 186 allows for a special Israeli military committee to sentence released prisoners to serve the remainder of their previous sentence based on secret evidence provided by the military prosecution without disclosing the evidence to the prisoner or his lawyer. This military order, which went into effect in 2009, particularly affects the prisoners who were released in the prisoner exchange deal on 18 October 2011, said the release. Since then, Israel has arrested eight former prisoners released in the exchange deal. Addameer said Samer al-Issawi, who has been on hunger strike to protest his arbitrary detention, was sentenced to 30 years in prison, of which he spent 10 before his release in the exchange. He was re-arrested on July 7, and since then the military prosecution has been attempting to use Article 186 to sentence him for the remaining 20 years of his previous sentence, said the statement. Similarly, Ayman Sharawna, who has been on an intermittent hunger strike since August 1, 2012, was serving a prison term of 38 years, of which he served 10 before his release in October 2011. He was re-arrested on January 31, 2012 and was presented to the Military Committee to serve the remainder of his sentence. Furthermore, said the statement, the Committee mandated by Article 186 sentenced Yousef Eshteiwi on February 6, 2012 for five years, the remainder of his previous sentence. The military committee justified his sentencing on the basis that his file contained secret information that could not be disclosed to Yousef or his lawyer, making the task of defense before the Committee an impossible task. Addameer said Article 186 of Military Order 1651 was "completely unjustified and undermines the protection of prisoners and ex-prisoners, and puts the lives of the hunger strikers in grave danger." It called on the international community and all human rights organizations "to come together to eliminate this military order."