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 - October 2013

Detention figures – According to the Israeli Prison Service (IPS), as of 30 September, there were 4,806 Palestinians held in Israeli detention facilities including 179 children. In the case of children, this represents a monthly decrease of 0.6 percent. However, there has been an annual increase of 7.1 percent in the average number of children detained compared with 2012. According to the IPS, 52 percent of children, and 89 percent of adults were detained in facilities inside Israel, in violation of Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Read more

Testimony from a 16-year-old boy – On 27 August 2013, a 16-year-old boy from Haris village was released after spending five months in prison for throwing stones. I was asleep when my father woke me up at around 2:30 a.m. He told me Israeli soldiers were in our house. I quickly got dressed and went to see what was happening. A soldier introduced himself as Commander Avik.  He told me he was in possession of confessions my friends had made against me and that I must come for questioning. He said I would be back home the next day. My hands were then tied behind my back with three plastic ties, wrapped around my wrists three fold. I complained that the ties were too tight and caused me pain, but nobody paid any attention. I was also blindfolded.” Read more
 
Dutch Foreign Minister raises concerns – On 4 October, Minister Timmermans stated that the Dutch Government is concerned about the circumstances in which Palestinian minors are being arrested and detained by Israel. These prove to be in violation of international law and treaties Israel has signed and ratified. Read more
 
UNICEF issues progress report - On 14 October, UNICEF issued a statement reviewing progress made in implementing the 38 recommendations contained in the organisation’s report on children held in Israeli military detention published in March 2013. The UNICEF report – Children in Israeli Military Detention – found 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’s prosecution and eventual conviction and sentencing.” Seven months after the publication of UNICEF’s report, MCW is still unable to confirm that any of the report’s 38 recommendations have been satisfactorily implemented. Read more
 
Military court decisions – A 14-year-old boy was arrested in Hebron after two soldiers claimed they could positively identify him as the boy who threw stones at them from a distance of 200 metres at night. The boy was taken to an Israeli police station in the West Bank for questioning. The court found that:
·      His family was not notified of the arrest;
·      He was interrogated at 11:00 p.m.;
·      He did not consult with a lawyer prior to interrogation;
·      Neither parent was present during interrogation; and
·      He was not informed of his right to silence.
At the conclusion of the interrogation the boy confessed to throwing stones at Israeli soldiers on three occasions. Judge Avri Eynhorn questioned why the boy was interrogated at night without appropriate safeguards. Nevertheless the judge ruled that bail be denied and the boy be held until the end of the legal process on the grounds that he had provided a confession and it was alleged that he had used a slingshot. Read more
 
Media – Haaretz – “The Israel Defense Forces is introducing changes to its policies regarding the arrest and interrogation of Palestinian minors in the West Bank, UNICEF said in a statement issued Monday. The agency called the statement a first progress report after the March 2013 publication of a briefing paper, “Children in Israeli military detention,” that has led to ongoing cooperation on the matter between UNICEF and Israel’s Military Advocate General, among other Israeli and Palestinian government agencies and organizations. According to the latest statement, in September the IDF Central Command agreed to pilot-test a new approach in two unspecified regions of the West Bank. Instead of arresting children wanted for questioning at their homes at night, any such arrests will take place during daylight hours. But Haaretz has learned that this policy has yet to be implemented, and the UNICEF announcement was a surprise to officers who are involved.” Read more
 
Testimony from a former soldier (Breaking the Silence) – He was “15 years old. His name was Daoud. We stopped our vehicle, ran out, he was in total shock. We took him to Gross Post, to the Jewish side, and he began to cry, scream, he was just streaming sweat and tears. We had nothing to do with him, suddenly you end up with a crying kid. A second ago he was throwing roof tiles at the army post, and you’re dying to beat him to a pulp, and you’re alerted out there in that heat. You want to kill him but he’s crying. We didn’t know what to do, so we put him under watch. Once someone who was with him went wild, did something to him and left. At some point when I was with him I tried to calm him down because he was tied, blindfolded, and crying, tears and sweat streaming out all over. I began to shake him, then the deputy company commander tried. He grabbed him and began to shake him: 'Shut up, shut up, enough, cut it out!’ Read more
 
Testimonies – Soldiers, parents and children testify. Read more