On January 30, 2025, CJPME media analyst sent a letter of complaint to CBC News regarding their article, originally sourced from Reuters, which describes Israel’s release of Palestinian “detainees” as “prisoners.” Following CJPME’s advocacy efforts, CBC News adjusted its headline to more accurately reflect the legal status of Palestinians held in Israeli detention cells, referring to them as “detainees.” It is important to note however that While CBC changed their headline, Reuters did not.
Altough this small revision appears at the onset to be a a minor linguistic issue, this inconsistency from the CBC and Reuters reinforces the inaccurate narrative that all Palestinians in Israeli custody are convicted criminals.In reality, many are being arbitrarily detained, often without due process, which means they cannot be considered “prisoners” according to the normal definition.
Why does this distinction matter?
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.
While CBC’s headline change is a positive step, inconsistencies remain, as the article still alternates between “detainees” and “prisoners.”
Nevertheless, this remains an important step, highlighting CJPME’s role in holding CBC accountable for using precise and consistent language that upholds journalistic standards and accurately represents Israel’s detention practices.