Detention figures – According to data issued quarterly by the Israeli Prison Service (IPS), as of 30 June 2023, there were 4,839 Palestinians (West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza) held as “security prisoners” in detention facilities including 161 children (12-17 years). In the case of children there was a 1 percent increase in the number compared with the previous month and an annual increase of 15 percent compared with 2022. Eighteen children were held in administrative detentionwithout charge or trial - the highest number since January 2008. According to the IPS, 72 percent of child detainees were unlawfully transferred from the occupied West Bank to prisons inside Israel in violation of the Fourth Geneva Conventionand the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. More statistics
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Evidence update: Threats to extract confessions - Ten years ago UNICEF reported on the widespread use of threats by Israeli interrogators to obtain confessions from children detained in the occupied West Bank. At the time, children reported being threatened in 47% of cases. UNICEF made 3 recommendations with a view to eliminating the practice. A decade on, children report being threatened in 73% of cases and none of UNICEF's recommendations have been implemented. The types of threats made include: long-term imprisonment; arrest of family members; revocation of work permits; physical violence; solitary confinement; administrative detention; and house demolition. Without domestic or international accountability there is no reason to anticipate substantive improvement. Read more__________________________________________________________________________________
UK 'seeking to block ICJ ruling' on Israeli occupation of Palestine - The UK has been accused of "seeking to block the international court of justice (ICJ) from addressing important international humanitarian law matters" in a submission to the world court on the legality of Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories. A 43-page legal opinion, seen by the Guardian, was submitted by the UK last month as part of the ICJ's fact-finding stage before an expected advisory opinion from the court on the legal consequences of the "occupation, settlement and annexation" of Palestinian land. The UK’s “amicus brief” opposes the hearing of the case in the ICJ altogether – a position shared by only a handful of the 57 opinions sent to the court by member states and non-governmental organisations. The Guardian__________________________________________________________________________________
A child's testimony - On 3 August 2023, a 15-year-old minor from Beit Ummar, in the occupied West Bank, was arrested by Israeli soldiers from home at 3:00 a.m. After searching the house the soldiers gave the boy's mother a document written in Hebrew. The boy was taken to the settlement of Etzion where he was interrogated. He was permitted to consult with a lawyer prior to interrogation but was not informed of his right to silence by the interrogator. The interrogator accused the boy of starting a fire near a settlement based on the evidence of another child. The boy reports that the interrogator threatened him with 2 years in prison and a ban on his father entering Israel for work for 7 years if he did not confess. The boy did not confess and he was released without charge 8 hours later. Read more__________________________________________________________________________________
