Some 1,400 Palestinians are currently imprisoned without formal charges or trial, the Israel Defense Force’s top legal officer disclosed upon his retirement Friday.
Brig. Gen. Amnon Strashnov, the outgoing IDF judge advocate general, told a television interviewer that 75,000 residents of the administered territories had been arrested since the intifada began more than three years.
He would not say how many are presently in military prisons. But he did disclose that of the total arrests, 45,000 suspects were put on trial and 14,000 placed under administrative detention, a measure retained from the British Mandate.
Strashnov, who is leaving military service, said he welcomed the defeat of a controversial proposal by right-wing Knesset members to pardon soldiers convicted of using excessive force against Palestinian civilians in the early days of the intifada.
Strashnov will be replaced by his aide, Col. Ilan Schiff, who will be promoted to brigadier general.
The IDF also announced the promotion of Col. Micha Tamir to brigadier general. Tamir has been appointed commander of the IDF’s liaison unit in Lebanon. He replaces Brig. Gen. Ze’ev Zaccaria, who will return to his academic studies.
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