Carter Center calls on Israel to release or charge hunger striker

Palestinian protesters dressed as jailed Islamic Jihad leader Khader Adnan in the West Bank village of Bilin near Ramallah on Feb. 17. Photo by REUTERS/Ammar Awad

The Carter Center called on the Israeli government to either charge or release a Palestinian prisoner on a hunger strike.

The center founded by former President Jimmy Carter asked Israel on Thursday to release Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan, who was arrested in December on the basis of “secret evidence.”

Adnan has been held in administrative detention without charge and has undertaken a hunger strike since being incarcerated.

The Carter Center previously spoke out about Israel’s administrative detention policies in holding three members of the Palestinian Legislative Council, including Dr. Aziz Dweik, the Speaker of the PLC.

“The detention of Speaker Dweik and other Palestinian legislators appears to be an attempt to hamstring the PLC in order to prevent Palestinian reconciliation and a prospective election later this year,” former President Carter said in a Jan. 24 press statement.  “The continued use of ‘administrative detention’ also is of great concern.”