A REPORT ON THE SITUATION FACING PALESTINIAN CHILDREN DETAINED IN THE ISRAELI MILITARY COURT SYSTEM

Defence for Children International – Palestine Section http://www.dci-palestine.org

In their own Words: A report on the situation facing Palestinian children detained in the Israeli military court system Reporting period: 1 January to 30 June 2011

Submitted: 19 July 2011

Submitted to:
1) UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;
2) UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers;
3) UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention; and
4) UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967.
This report is submitted on behalf of Defence for Children International–Palestine Section (DCI-Palestine), a national section of the international non-governmental child rights organisation and movement, Defence for Children International, established in 1979, with consultative status with ECOSOC. 2

Index
1. Executive summary ........................................................................................... 3
2. Introduction ........................................................................................................ 4
3. Number of children in detention ................................................................... 6
4. Torture and ill-treatment ................................................................................ 6
5. Specific issues of concern ................................................................................ 9
A. Arrested between midnight and 5:00 am ................................................... 9
B. Hand ties and blindfolds ............................................................................ 10
C. Transferred on floor of vehicle ........................................................ 12
D. Physical violence ............................................................................... 13
E. Verbal abuse ............................................................................................ 14
F. Threatened ............................................................................................ 15
G. Solitary confinement ................................................................................ 16
H. Confession during interrogation ........................................................ 18
I. Signed or shown documentation written in Hebrew ................................ 19
J. Detention inside Israel in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention .... 20
K. Presence of a family member during interrogation ................................ 20
6. Impunity for violations ................................................................................ 21
7. The role of settlements in the Israeli military detention system ..................... 21
8. Concluding remarks ............................................................................................. 22
9. Recommendations ............................................................................................. 22
ANNEX – 1
Cumulative table of issues of concern ......................................................... 24
ANNEX-2
Executive summary (1 July to 31 December 2010) ................................. 26 3

1. Executive summary
1.1 Each year, approximately 700 Palestinian children as young as 12 years are arrested, interrogated and prosecuted in the Israeli military detention system. Credible reports of torture and/or ill-treatment within the system are common and persistent. This Report covers a six month period between 1 January and 30 June 2011, and is based on the sworn testimonies of 45 children detained in the system during this period. In 62 percent of the cases, the children were accused of throwing stones. The common complaints and areas of concern raised by the children in their testimonies are presented in Table 1:
Table 1 – Common complaints and areas of concern – 1 January to 30 June 2011 # Common complaints and areas of concern Number of cases Percentage of children
1 Hand ties 44 (98%)
2 Blindfolds 41 (91%)
3 Physical violence 39 (87%)
4 Detention inside Israel in violation of Article 76 34 (76%)
5 Confession during interrogation 31 (69%)
6 Arrested between midnight and 5:00 am 28 (62%)
7 Verbal abuse 27 (60%)
8 Strip searched 25 (56%)
9 Threatened 17 (38%)
10 Transferred on floor of vehicle 15 (33%)
11 Signed/shown documents written in Hebrew 13 (29%)
12 Solitary confinement 4 (9%)

Shalom 1492: To read the full text: http://www.dci-palestine.org/sites/default/files/un_sp_-_detention_-_west_bank_-_july_2011.pdf