"Many Palestinian detainees are not prisoners in the conventional sense. They are being arbitrarily detained, often without due process, which means referring to them as “prisoners” is not only misleading but, arguably, factually incorrect. Further, many of the Palestinians are women and children. And many more report facing torture, sexual abuse, and other crimes."
January 31, 2025
Dear CTV Your Morning Team,
I’m writing to express concern regarding a news segment that aired during CTV Your Morning on January 31, 2025.
During a segment on the release of Israelis from Gaza and Palestinians from Israel, the host referred to the Israelis being released as “hostages,” but to the Palestinians as “prisoners.” It is becoming the journalistic norm to refer to Palestinians being released as “detainees,” and to add context, because the term “prisoner” does not accurately reflect their status.
Many Palestinians in Israeli custody are held under administrative detention, a practice that violates international human rights law—specifically, Article 9(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), a legally binding UN treaty ratified by Israel in 1991:
Article 9(1): “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention. No one shall be deprived of his liberty except on such grounds and in accordance with such procedures as are established by law.”
Administrative detention allows Israeli authorities to detain Palestinians indefinitely without charge or trial, based on secret evidence not disclosed to the detainee or their lawyer. According to Amnesty International:
“Israel has systematically used administrative detention as a tool to persecute Palestinians, rather than as an extraordinary and selectively used preventative measure.”
This means that many Palestinian detainees are not prisoners in the conventional sense. They are being arbitrarily detained, often without due process, which means referring to them as “prisoners” is not only misleading but, arguably, factually incorrect. Further, many of the Palestinians are women and children. And many more report facing torture, sexual abuse, and other crimes.
CBC has updated their language on this front and has a helpful article on the matter, “Hostage, prisoner or detainee? In the latest Israel-Hamas exchange, it's not always clear.”
While it is understandable that CTV cannot explain all of these nuances in a brief news item, it remains important to at least be sensitive to word-choice, as it reshapes your audiences understanding of the Palestinians being released from Israeli detention.
Going forward, I am urging CTV to refer to Palestinians being released from Israel as “detainees” and it is critical that CTV provide its viewers with a segment that speaks to this important distinction if context is not able to be provided in brief news segments.
Sincerely,
Jason Toney
Director of Media Advocacy, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East