Arbitrary Detention is the kind of detention of an individual without due process or court trial. Those who are arbitrary detained were not given any explanation as to why they are being held. Their whereabouts are unknown from their families or the public and they usually suffer from physical or psychological torture during interrogation. They might also experience other forms of abuses or extrajudicial punishments from their detainers.

Arbitrary detention is usually observed in a dictatorship kind of government and it is condemned by human rights advocates as it directly violates the Article 9 and 11 (quoted below) of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Article 9

1. Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. 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 procedure as are established by law.

2. Anyone who is arrested shall be informed, at the time of arrest, of the reasons for his arrest and shall be promptly informed of any charges against him.

3. Anyone arrested or detained on a criminal charge shall be brought promptly before a judge or other officer authorized by law to exercise judicial power and shall be entitled to trial within a reasonable time or to release. It shall not be the general rule that persons awaiting trial shall be detained in custody, but release may be subject to guarantees to appear for trial, at any other stage of the judicial proceedings, and, should occasion arise, for execution of the judgment.

4. Anyone who is deprived of his liberty by arrest or detention shall be entitled to take proceedings before a court, in order that that court may decide without delay on the lawfulness of his detention and order his release if the detention is not lawful.

5. Anyone who has been the victim of unlawful arrest or detention shall have an enforceable right to compensation.

Article 11

No one shall be imprisoned merely on the ground of inability to fulfil a contractual obligation.

The detention of individual without trial has long been viewed as one of the most serious violation of human rights. It is prohibited by all the key international human rights texts and the subject has attracted the attention of United Nation to create a group that will oversee the cases regarding arbitrary detention.