Detention figures – According to the Israeli Prison Service (IPS), as of 31 July 2014, there were 5,383 Palestinians held as "security prisoners" in Israeli detention facilities including 192 children. In the case of children this represents a decrease of 5 per cent
compared with the previous month but an annual increase of 0.5 per cent compared with 2013. According to the IPS, 48 per cent of Palestinian children and 90 per cent of adults continue to be detained in facilities inside Israel, in violation of Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. A further 1,960 Palestinians were held in IPS detention as "criminal prisoners" including 24 children. Criminal offences include entering Israel without a permit, most frequently in pursuit of work.
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Testimony - On 24 July 2014, a 15-year-old boy from Nahhalin, in the West Bank, is arrested by Israeli soldiers at 4:00 a.m. and accused of starting a fire near an Israeli settlement. “I was asleep when my sister woke me up. It was around 4:00 a.m. She told me to get up because Israeli soldiers were in the house. I was at home with my sister who is 18 and my younger brothers aged 13, 11 and 6. My mother was in Jordan and my father died five years ago. Four soldiers had entered the house and lots more were outside. The soldiers asked us to gather in the sitting room. The commander asked for my name and immediately told me to get dressed because they were going to arrest me. They showed my sister a document and asked her to sign it as proof that I was arrested without being physically assaulted.”
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MCW Legal - High Court tacitly endorses unlawful discrimination (Ministry of Palestinian Prisoners v Minster of Defence) (April 2014)
– The Appellants argued that applying different time periods under which an accused person must be brought before a judge depending on whether that person is Palestinian (subject to military law) or an Israeli settler (subject to civilian law) violates both international and Israeli law on discrimination and the relevant laws should be equal. In largely dismissing the petition, the Court noted that the military authorities had gone some way to reducing the gap between the two legal systems, and given the prevailing security situation in the West Bank, the differences were "reasonable and proportional". This judgment is now available in English on MCW's website.
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News – Political – On 28 July, the following exchange occurred in the UK Parliament relating to the involvement of the UK/Danish security company, G4S and its directors, in the unlawful detention of Palestinians inside Israel in violation of Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention: Lord Judd: “To ask HMG whether they have had discussions with the directors of G4S about that company’s adherence to the terms of the Fourth Geneva Convention as it applies to the detention of Palestinian prisoners inside Israel; and what was the outcome of any such discussions.” The question was answered on behalf of the Government by Baroness Warsi as follows: “The Government has made clear our concerns about Israel’s treatment of Palestinian detainees in meetings with G4S.”
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International Court of Justice’s Advisory Opinion – 10 years on - This July marked the 10
th anniversary of the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ)
advisory opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s construction of a wall in the West Bank. In expressing its opinion, the world’s highest court considered a range of legal issues relating to Israel’s military occupation of Palestinian territory. In determining that Israel’s construction of the wall violated international law, the Court noted that any State is permitted to build a wall within its own territory for any reason. However, in the case of Israel’s wall, the overwhelming majority of its route (85 per cent) is constructed outside Israel on Palestinian territory and is accordingly illegal. Ten years on, over 62 per cent of the Wall has been completed …”
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Haaretz – A 'targetted assasination’ of international law (Michael Sfard)
– “Israelis are surprised. Did I say surprised? Downright shocked. Even before the dust from the fighting has settled, even before this “most just of all wars” has ended, even as the most moral army in the world is still mired in Gaza – there is already talk of war crimes and an international investigation. We, who didn’t carpet-bomb even though we could have, who dropped fliers and made phone calls and knocked on the roof; we, who agreed to the humanitarian cease-fire that Hamas violated; we, who took more precautions than any other nation would have done – we are once again being accused of war crimes. Once again, the same old song is being sung...”
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Haaretz – AG recommends psychiatric evaluations of Palestinian minors in custody – “Military court judges should be allowed to request psychological evaluations of arrested Palestinian minors before deciding whether to extend their detention, Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein said on Monday. Weinstein told the military advocate general, Maj. Gen. Danny Efroni, that the military law in force in the West Bank should be changed to make this possible. “My starting point is that every minor is a world unto himself,” Weinstein wrote. “A minor is a minor, no matter where he lives.”Inside Israel, judges routinely request psychological evaluations of minors before deciding whether to keep them under arrest. But in the West Bank, the military prosecution has repeatedly opposed conducting evaluations …”
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Testimony - On 29 July 2014, a 17-year-old boy from Nahhalin, in the West Bank, is arrested by Israeli soldiers at 4:00 a.m. and accused of starting a fire near a settlement. “I was asleep when my brother woke me up telling me there were Israeli soldiers around the house. It was around 4:00 a.m. I heard loud banging at our front door. My father went to answer but the soldiers broke it down and stormed into the house before he managed to open it. Five soldiers entered the house and about 30 others remained outside. They ordered all of us to leave the house and checked our identity cards. When a soldier checked mine he tied my hands behind my back with one plastic tie. The tie caused me a lot of pain. He also blindfolded me and told me I was under arrest. He didn’t tell us why and didn’t present us with any written documents.”
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ABC Four Corners – Stone Cold Justice – A joint investigation by Four Corners and The Australian newspaper aired on Australian national television. The investigation reveals evidence that shows the army is targeting Palestinian boys for arrest and detention. Reporter John Lyons travels to the West Bank to hear the story of children who claim they have been taken into custody, ruthlessly questioned and then allegedly forced to sign confessions before being taken to court for sentencing.The program focuses on the stories of three boys. In two cases the army came for the children in the middle of the night, before taking them to unknown locations where they are questioned. A mother of one of the boys described the scene.
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