Detention figures – According to the Israeli Prison Service (IPS), as of 31 December 2015, there were 6,066 Palestinians (West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza) held as "security prisoners" in Israeli detention facilities including 422 children. In the case of children there was a 4 per cent increase in the number compared with the previous month and an annual increase of 15 per cent compared with 2014. These figures include 6 children held under administrative detention orders. According to the IPS, 35 per cent of Palestinian children and 87 per cent of adults continue to be detained in facilities in Israel in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. A further 1,800 Palestinians were held in IPS detention as "criminal prisoners" including 19 children. Criminal offences include entering Israel without a permit, most frequently in pursuit of work. More statistics

UK Foreign Office responds to unlawful transfer correspondence - On 2 December 2015, MCW wrote to the British Consulate in Jerusalem raising concerns about the policy of the Israeli Government of transferring protected persons from the West Bank to prisons inside Israel in violation of its international legal obligations. The UK Government has acknowledged that this policy amounts to a “grave breach” of the Fourth Geneva Convention which carries a maximum penalty of 30 years imprisonment under UK law. The issue of the unlawful transfer of protected persons from the West Bank was also raised in the UK Parliament on 6 January 2016. On 19 January 2016, the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) responded to MCW’s letter. Read more

UK parliament debates child detention - On 6 January 2016, an Adjournment Debate was held in the UK Parliament on Child Prisoners and Detainees: Occupied Palestinian Territories (Video/Transcript). The debate was sponsored by Sarah Champion MP (Labour) who in September 2015 visited the region as part of a cross-party delegation organised by the Council for Arab-British Understanding (CAABU) and Medical Aid for Palestine (MAP). In her opening speech, Ms. Champion referred to a report prepared by a delegation of leading British lawyers which found uncontested evidence that Israel’s treatment of children held in military detention violated at least six articles under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and two articles under the Fourth Geneva Convention. Read more

 

Coping with Insecurity (By Salwa Duaibis) - I always look forward with apprehension to accompanying visiting delegations to Ofer military court, where they can witness injustice in “concentrated doses.” The visits are always stark reminders of what life is like for ordinary Palestinian men, women, and children who live in the shadow of settlements, along bypass roads, or behind the wall. This time, however, I was a bit relaxed because I knew I didn’t have to convince anyone of anything or to explain the obvious, as I was accompanying two Palestinian women: my sister and a lawyer friend of mine. What I did have to do, however, was to calm down my sister a bit as she kept expressing her “fear” of witnessing mothers in distress. Read more

Testimony - On 9 December 2015, a 17-year-old youth from the Qalandia refugee camp is detained by Israeli soldiers and accused of throwing stones. He is released 8 days later. “I was chatting with my friend near Qalandia checkpoint when a group of Israeli soldiers suddenly approached us and started to question us about throwing stones at the checkpoint. It was around 4:00 p.m. and there were no clashes going on at the time. One of the soldiers took some pictures out of his pocket of boys throwing stones and asked me whether I knew any of them. When I told him I didn’t and that I don’t throw stones at anyone he yelled at me, accused me of lying and threatened to arrest me. Two soldiers then grabbed me and dragged me towards the checkpoint. Read more

UN Special Rapporteur resigns due lack of access to the Occupied Palestinian Territory - The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, Makarim Wibisono, today submitted his resignation to the President of the Human Rights Council, effective as of 31 March 2016. The independent expert expressed deep regret that, throughout his mandate, Israel failed to grant him access to the Occupied Palestinian Territory. “Unfortunately, my efforts to help improve the lives of Palestinian victims of violations under the Israeli occupation have been frustrated every step of the way,” said Mr. Wibisono. The Special Rapporteur stressed that upon taking up the mandate in June 2014, he was assured that he would have access to the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Read more

Whose Security? (By Gerard Horton) - Representatives of the international community frequently describe a two-state solution as “a secure state of Israel alongside a viable Palestinian state.” This terminology has become so commonplace that it is easy to overlook the inherent imbalance these words contain – words that appear to assume that either Palestinians already have security, or that security for Palestinians is simply irrelevant – “viability” being sufficient. During the past eight years I have worked exclusively on the issue of the detention of children by Israeli forces in the West Bank, and the stories of these children cast a different light on the perception of security. Read more