Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As I understand it, the reports were of cages that were used to hold prisoners before they were taken to court or while a search was under way. My information is that the Israeli justice minister has ordered a discontinuation of that practice. There are wider issues relating to detention that we raise. I am concerned that rather than being extraordinary measures that are only applied in the most exceptional cases, detention orders are being used as part of the broader system of control of Palestinians and legitimate protest as well as violent action. It is not right that such detention orders are renewed indefinitely without a case coming to trial. I, therefore, strongly support the calls for this practice to be brought to an end. Ireland and its EU partners have repeatedly represented these views to the Israeli authorities and the number of cases of administrative detention has fallen during that period. We will, of course, continue to press the issue.

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