Two United Nations rapporteurs said, “The dual system of Israeli courts in the West Bank provides a legal cover for torture and cruel treatment against Palestinian detainees, and makes the task of defending them impossible.”

This came in a joint statement issued by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Margaret Satterthwaite, and the Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese, according to what Quds Press reported, citing the United Nations website.

The two UN rapporteurs said, “The Israeli military commander issued 3 announcements related to military authority in the areas of executive, security, public order, and the judiciary in the West Bank.”

They added that those provisions were “later amended to become a military order establishing military courts” in the West Bank.

They continued in the statement: “In the West Bank, the tasks of the police, investigator, public prosecutor, and judge are entrusted to the same hierarchical institution, the Israeli army.”

They pointed out that "the military order sets vague procedural instructions and broad powers for the military forces to administer procedures and control many aspects of the daily lives of Palestinians, including public health, education, and land and property law."

The Israeli military order also criminalizes many forms of political expression, culture, association, movement, peaceful protest, traffic violations, and other actions that can be considered a means of opposing the occupation and its policies, according to the statement.

The two rapporteurs stressed that these military measures “provide military judges in military courts with legal and judicial cover for acts of torture and cruel and degrading treatment carried out by the armed forces and intelligence services against Palestinian detainees, and make it impossible to defend them.”

They stressed that "guarantees of a fair and public trial, in accordance with international standards, include the independence and impartiality of the courts, and require that the judicial system not rely on the discretionary authority of any branch of government, especially the executive authority and the armed forces."

The two rapporteurs explained that “the dual system of courts established in the West Bank, in violation of international law, has strengthened the legitimacy of the occupation and illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory through a strict military-imposed sanctions regime that is only applied to Palestinians without guarantees of due process.”

The two UN rapporteurs expressed their "particular concern over the exposure of Palestinian children to this regime, which turns a blind eye to settler violence and criminality, leading to its continuation and impunity."

They denounced the absence of fair trials in the West Bank since 1967.

The two rapporteurs called on Israel to "cancel the military order and related laws and regulations, dissolve the military court, and guarantee the right to a fair trial in the West Bank."