Newsletter - March 2014
Detention figures – According to the Israeli Prison Service (IPS), as of 28 February 2014, there were 4,961 Palestinians held as "security prisoners" in Israeli detention facilities including
210 children. In the case of children this represents an
increase of 15 percent compared with the previous month, but an annual
decrease of 1 percent compared with 2013. In a positive development, for the sixth month in a row no children below the age of 14 were recorded as being held in IPS detention facilities. However, it should be noted that there are no official statistics publicly available that show the number of children below the age of 14 who were arrested and detained for less than one month and released before the monthly head-count. According to the IPS, 49 percent of Palestinian children and 89 percent of adults continue to be detained in facilities inside Israel, in violation of Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. A further 2,078 Palestinians from the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza were held in IPS detention as "criminal prisoners" including 38 children. Criminal offenses include entering Israel without a permit.
More statistics
The UNICEF Report – MCW reviews progress one year on – In March 2013, UNICEF published the report – Children in Israeli Military Detention – which concluded that the ill-treatment of children in the system “appears to be widespread, systematic and institutionalized”. UNICEF also made 38 recommendations which the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated said it would “work to implement through on-going cooperation with UNICEF”. After reviewing both legal and procedural changes, as well as analysing 60 testimonies, MCW concludes that one year on, 87 percent of UNICEF’s recommendations remain un-implemented and although there have been some noteworthy changes, it is not yet possible to reach an alternative conclusion to UNICEF that ill-treatment remains “widespread, systematic and institutionalized”.
Read more
Testimony – B.T. - On 18 February 2014, a 15-year-old boy from An Nabi Saleh, in the West Bank, is arrested by Israeli soldiers at 1:30 a.m. – ““I woke up to the sound of loud banging at our front door. I couldn’t comprehend what was going on and thought I was dreaming. I think it was around 1:30 a.m. Then my mother came and told me to stay in bed because Israeli soldiers were at the door. When my father opened the door I heard one of the soldiers tell him to wake everybody in the house. Minutes later my father told me to come out because the soldiers wanted to photograph me.”
Read more
Media – Haaretz – Key witness aimed gun at Palestinian teen during police interview - A soldier who served as a key witness in an investigation against a 15-year-old Palestinian attended the police interview, where he trained his gun on the teen. The scene was captured in a video. Israeli soldiers in February arrested four Palestinian youths in the West Bank village of Nabi Salih, near Ramallah. Villagers have been demonstrating weekly against what they say is the takeover of a nearby spring by Jewish settlers from Neve Tzuf.
Read more
US State Department – Annual Global Report on Human Rights - In March 2014, the US State Department released its annual global report on human rights including details concerning children held in Israeli military detention in 2013. The State Department noted that reports were received: “that Israeli security services continued to abuse, and in some cases torture, minors who they frequently arrested on suspicion of stone throwing to coerce confessions. Tactics included beatings, long-term handcuffing, threats, intimidation, and solitary confinement”.
Read more
Six core recommendations – The overwhelming majority of complaints relating to the treatment of children held in Israeli military detention occur during the first 24 hours following arrest. There are six core recommendations that, if effectively implemented, would provide additional protection:
- Children should only be arrested during daylight hours except in rare and exceptional circumstances. In all other cases summonses should be used;
- All children, and their legal guardian, should be provided with a written statement in Arabic informing them of their full legal rights in custody;
- All children must consult with a lawyer of their choice prior to questioning;
- All children must be accompanied by a family member throughout their questioning;
- Every interrogation must be audio-visually recorded and a copy of the tape must be provided to the defence prior to the first hearing; and
- Breach of any of the above recommendations should result in the discontinuation of the prosecution and the child’s immediate release.