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 - December 2021

Detention figures – According to data issued quarterly by the Israeli Prison Service (IPS), as of 31 December 2021, there were 4,271 Palestinians (West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza) held as “security prisoners” in detention facilities including 145 children (12-17 years). In the case of children there was a 6% decrease in the number compared with the previous month and an annual decrease of 8% compared with 2020. Five children were held in administrative detention. According to the IPS, 64% of child detainees were transferred to prisons inside Israel in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. More statistics 

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2021 In Review - This statement contains a brief overview of significant child detention issues from the past year and includes: an analysis of the full-year detention figures; an increase in the use of administrative detention orders; the geographical link between child detention and Israeli settlements; the forcible transfer of child detainees out of the West Bank to prisons located inside Israel in violation of international law; reports of widespread ill-treatment and the denial of basic legal rights; a surge in the use of solitary confinement during interrogation; the Corona virus; and the erosion of confidence in a genuine rules based order and its associated institutions. Read more

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More cases of solitary confinement - The reported surge in the use of solitary confinement continues based on recent evidence. Whereas reports of children in solitary during interrogation are not new, the numbers have surged from less than 4 percent to 20 percent per year. While the evidence does not disclose why it is clear that subjecting children to solitary confinement is an effective way of breaking their spirits and extracting confessions. It is also likely to be an effective means of recruiting informants. Children subjected to this practice spend an average of 10.5 days in solitary, generally in tiny unhygienic cells. The effects include self-harm and suicide attempts.

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A child's testimony - On 7 August 2021, a 16-year-old minor from Beit Fajjar was arrested on a road near a settlement by Israeli soldiers at 10:00 p.m. He reports being held in solitary confinement for 9 days at Etzion interrogation centre. "I was with a friend of mine walking along the road near the settlement at around 10:00 p.m. Suddenly a number of Israeli military jeeps approached and about 20 soldiers stepped out and surrounded us. Two soldiers beat me hard on my back and swore at me calling me "a son of a whore". Then another soldier tied my hands behind my back with three plastic ties: one on each wrist and another connecting the two." Read more

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