Detention figures
End of December 2023:

Security Prisoners

Adults: 8,171
Children: 137
Total: 8,308

Percentage held in Israel:

Adults: 74%
Children: 49%

Administrative Detention

Adults: 3,239
Children: 49
Total: 3,288

 
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Newsletter - June 2015
 
Detention figures – According to the Israeli Prison Service (IPS), as of 31 May 2015, there were 5,516 Palestinians (West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza) held as "security prisoners" in Israeli detention facilities including 163 children. In the case of children there was a 1 per cent decrease in the numbercompared with the previous month and an annual decrease of 9 per cent compared with 2014. According to the IPS, 50 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 1,990 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. More statistics

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200 cases submitted to UN linking settlements and detention – In June, MCW lodged a submission with the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment relating to the treatment of children held in Israeli military detention. The evidence includes the cases of 200 minors detained by the Israeli military in the West Bank since January 2013. Following a review of the evidence the submission confirms an earlier finding by UNICEF that “the ill-treatment of children who come in contact with the military detention system appears to be widespread, systematic and institutionalized.” Based on the evidence, the submission also draws a link between the scale of abuse and the maintenance of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Read more

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Comparative graph – issues of concern (2013-2015) - In support of MCW’s submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, a comparative graph was prepared which tracks a number of key issues of concern based on the evidence collected from the field. The graph highlights areas in which there have been improvement, no change or deterioration. MCW will update the graph at regular intervals. Comparative graph

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UK lawyers’ report – 3 years on – This June marks marks three years since a delegation of UK lawyers published the report - Children in Military Custody (the Report). The Foreign Office funded report reviewed how children are treated in Israel’s military detention system taking into account both the legal framework and practice. Based on certain undisputed facts, the Report found that Israel was in breach of eight of its international legal obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Fourth Geneva Convention arising out of its treatment of children held in military detention. Read more

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Testimony - On 18 May 2015, a 16-year-old youth from the Al 'Arrub refugee camp in the West Bank is arrested by Israeli soldiers at 2.00 a.m. and accused of throwing stones. “I was arrested from home at around 2.00 a.m. I woke up to the sound of soldiers banging at our front door. I also heard my father open the door. About 10 soldiers entered the house. My four-year-old sister was terrified to see soldiers inside the house and started to cry. The commander told my father they were going to arrest me because I am a trouble maker. They gave my father a document with details about my arrest. The document said they were going to take me for interrogation at Etzion police station because I was accused of throwing stones.” Read more

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UK watchdog finds G4S is violating human rights obligations towards Palestinians – In June the UK National Contact Point (NCP) for the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (OECD Guidelines) published a finding that the British security firm, G4S, is currently violating three human rights obligations under the OECD Guidelines arising from its contracts to provide security services to Israeli military checkpoints and prisons located inside the West Bank and Israel. The NCP’s decision followed a detailed investigation into a human rights complaint submitted by the UK legal charity, Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights (LPHR). Read more

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UN Secretary-General’s report to the Security Council - For the third consecutive year, the UN has included in the report a section on the treatment of children in Israel’s military detention system in the West Bank, focusing on the arrest, transfer, interrogation and detention stages. On this issue the report states as follows: “The United Nations obtained the affidavits of 122 Palestinian children from the West Bank, who had been detained by the Israeli security forces, in which they stated that they had been subjected to ill-treatment, such as beatings, being hit with sticks, being blindfolded, being kicked and being subjected to verbal abuse and threats of sexual violence.” Read more

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Ban Ki-moon and the detention of Palestinian children - In recent weeks some media attention has focused on whether Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon would, or would not, include Israel on the UN’s list of states responsible for violating children’s rights in armed conflict. This follows the receipt of a draft report in which Ban’s special envoy for children and armed conflict, Leila Zerrougui, recommended that Israel should be listed, citing as one reason, the high proportion of children killed during last summer’s war in Gaza. In the end, Ban opted not to include Israel or Hamas on the list following what media sources described as intense pressure from the U.S. and Israel. Read more

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Members of Congress raise child detention concerns with John Kerry - In June, 19 members of the US Congress wrote to Secretary of State, John Kerry, raising their concerns regarding the treatment of Palestinian children held in Israeli military detention. The letter specifically referred to UNICEF’s 2013 finding that “the ill-treatment of children who come in contact with the military detention system appears to be widespread, systematic and institutionalized throughout the process, from the moment of arrest until the child’ prosecution and eventual conviction and sentencing”. UNICEF recently confirmed that the levels of abuse remain substantially unchanged in 2014. Read more

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US State Department’s Human Rights report for 2014 - The US State Department recently published its annual global report on human rights for 2014. As in previous years, the report identifies arbitrary arrest and associated torture and abuse as one of the three most significant human rights abuses in Israel and Palestine. In the report the State Department notes that Israeli authorities continue to apply two distinct legal systems in the West Bank, one military and one civilian, depending on whether the individual is Palestinian or an Israeli settler. For Palestinians prosecuted in the military court system, the State Department notes that the conviction rate remains above 99 percent. Read more
 

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