Arbitrary detention and violation of human rights in Israel call for the attention of the international community.

In August 2012, Israeli authorities issued an order prohibiting Abdullatif Ghaith, chairman of the group Addameer, from traveling abroad or from East Jerusalem, where he lives, to the rest of the West Bank, where the organization’s offices are located. On August 3, Ghaith responded to a summons to appear at the “Moskobiyya” detention facility in Jerusalem; there Israeli security officials handed him an order signed by the Interior Minister, Eli Yishai, prohibiting his travel abroad for six months because he was an unspecified “state security” threat.

On September 15, the Israeli military issued an order signed by the head of its central command, Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon, barring Ghaith from entering the rest of the West Bank from East Jerusalem for six months for unspecified “security” reasons. The military has barred Ghaith under previous orders from entering the West Bank since October 2011. According to Addameer, Israeli authorities have repeatedly detained Ghaith without charge under “administrative detention” orders, most recently from June 2004 to January 2005.

On October 15, Israeli forces raided the West Bank home of Ayman Nasser, a researcher for Addameer, arrested him and questioned him about some radio interviews he gaves. The military court hearings on October 18 and 24 extended his detention on the basis of evidence he was not allowed to see.

The Israeli military has not charged either man with wrongdoing.

“It’s deeply ironic that Israel is arbitrarily detaining a researcher who has documented arbitrary detention, and violating the rights of the head of a human rights group,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Israel should provide valid justifications for its measures against Nasser and Ghaith or drop those measures immediately.”

Mahmoud Hassan, who also works for Addameer, met with Nasser in the Jerusalem detention facility on the afternoon of October 16. Hassan told Human Rights Watch that Nasser said Israeli security personnel had questioned him about an interview he had given earlier in 2012 to Ajyal radio, a Palestinian station, about Palestinian prisoners who had gone on hunger strike to protest administrative detention and ill-treatment.

It is known that Nasser met with the families of the prisoners; however, the fact that Nasser is the chairman of the Handala center, that is registered with the Palestinian Authority and holds educational activities in Saffa, seems to be under scrutiny as well.

The Israeli military previously sentenced Nasser to six years in prison, from February 1991 to October 1997. Despite inquiries, Human Rights Watch was unable to obtain information about the charges from more than two decades ago.

Israel’s arrest, detention, and interrogation of Nasser violate his due process rights, Human Rights Watch said. Israel’s international legal obligations require it to inform those arrested of the reasons, to promptly inform them of any charges against them, and promptly bring them before a judge.

Regarding the restriction on travelling  to Abdullatif Ghaith, Human Rights Watch stated that according to international human rights standards, everyone has the right to leave a country. Any restrictions on such travel should be issued only in exceptional circumstances, for reasons stated clearly and publicly. The refusal of the Israeli authorities to make public any evidence to substantiate the reasons for the travel ban against Ghaith means that he has been denied a meaningful opportunity to challenge the ban in court.