Newsletter - April 2016
Detention figures – According to the Israeli Prison Service (IPS), as of 30 April 2016, there were 6,295 Palestinians (West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza) held as "security prisoners" in Israeli detention facilities including 414 children
. In the case of children there was a 5 per cent decrease in the number compared with the previous month and an annual increase of 93 per cent compared with 2015. These figures include 13 children held under administrative detention orders. A further 1,586 Palestinians were held in IPS detention as "criminal prisoners" including 14 children. More statistics
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US State Department’s report on human rights (April 2016) – The US Department of State’s annual report covers human rights abuses during 2015. After referring to UNICEF's 2013 finding that ill-treatment of children held in Israeli military detention appears to be "widespread, systematic and institutionalised", the State Department referred to recent reports indicating that 61 per cent of minors continue to report being subjected to physical violence; 90 per cent continue to be hand-tied; 81 per cent continue to be blindfolded; and 96 per cent are denied timely access to a lawyer.
Read more
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Unlawful transfer of protected persons – The Fourth Geneva Convention (Art. 76) prohibits the transfer and detention of "protected persons" outside occupied territory. According to the Israeli Prison Service (IPS), in April 2016, 48 per cent of Palestinian children and 86 per cent of adults continue to be detained in facilities in Israel in violation of the Convention and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (Art. 8). It is estimated that this policy, which commenced in 1967, is currently affecting more than 7,000 Palestinian men, women and children each year.
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Comparative graph – issues of concern (update) – In April 2016, MCW updated the comparative graph tracking 13 issues of concern. The latest evidence indicates that there has been a rise during the first four months of this year in the number of reports relating to: hand ties; blindfolds; physical abuse; use of documentation written in Hebrew; threats, verbal abuse; and children who report being transferred on the metal floor of military vehicles. There has also been a fall in the percentage of children who report being informed of their right to silence or were accompanied by a parent during their interrogation. The evidence does indicate a significant rise in the percentage of children permitted to consult with a lawyer prior to questioning (4 per cent in 2015 rising to 23 per cent in 2016 (based on 26 testimonies)).
Read more
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Testimony –On 12 April 2016, a 16-year-old youth (
I.A.A.T.) from Beit Fajjar is arrested by Israeli soldiers at 2:30 a.m. and accused of throwing stones. “I was asleep when I heard loud banging at the door at around 2:30 a.m. My father came to tell me that Israeli soldiers had come to arrest me. I was scared and went to the living room where I saw the soldiers give my father a document about my arrest. They asked him to sign it and they took the document with them. The soldiers did not tell me or my father the reason for my arrest or where they wanted to take me.”
More testimonies and films
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