Association for Civil Rights in Israel האגודה לזכויות האזרח בישראלhttp://www.acri.org.il (Israel)
VIOLATIONS OF THE "YOUTH LAW (ADJUDICATION, PUNISHMENT AND METHODS OF TREATMENT) – 1971"BY THE ISRAELI POLICE IN EAST JERUSALEM
SUMMARY
March 2011
Researched and written by: Atty. Nisreen Alyan
With assistance from: Anne Sucio, Atty. Keren Tzafrir, Mahmoud Qarae’en
Translated from Hebrew
(Full document: Association for Civil Rights in Israel http://www.acri.org.il)
H. Summary
25. From a review of the investigation files of minors and from complaints that we have received, it has become clear that minors from East Jerusalem are regularly interrogated without their parents' presence - at times when they are tired, exhausted and frightened after being removed from their beds in the middle of the night and brought to the police station, sometimes in handcuffs. Their right to have their parents present at their interrogation has been realized only in appearance or not realized at all, under various pretexts.
26. It is apparent that the exceptions to the Law have taken the place of the provisions of the Law, and that the police do not enable minors to exercise their rights – that is to say, the rules and important principles established by Law have been exchanged for a series of reports and forms that the police fill out whenever they seek to circumvent those rules and utilize the exceptions instead.
27. We know of no single position holder within the establishment who is responsible for requiring a report on the frequent use of these exceptions to the Youth Law. In light of the pervasiveness of this phenomenon and the danger that it poses, we recommend that a body or person be appointed to have responsibility over the investigation of minor, that could monitor and supervise these investigations and have a clearer picture of the situation, and which would be authorized to review each case on an individual basis.
28. The police's use and abuse of the exceptions to the Law, as detailed here, void the Law of all its content and thus prevent minors from enjoying the protections afforded to them by law. The police must adhere to the letter of the Law and act to protect the welfare of minors in the spirit of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as follows:
A. The detention or arrest of a minor in order to bring him in for questioning is an extreme measure that entails severe harm to his liberty, reinforces his labeling as a criminal, and may cause young people psychological injury. The arrest of minors should only be employed by the authorities as a last resort and not as a routine tool in police investigations. The police must operate through the normative, statutory mechanisms established by the Law, which is to say that in the investigations of minors, the young suspects must be summoned to appear at the police station.
B. One of the most unique and important rights granted to minors by the Youth Law is the right for a parent to be present in the interrogation room during the questioning of a minor. However, that right established by law has been undermined to such an extent that it has been effectively abolished as a result of several practices: The police make frequent use of the exceptions established by law, many children are questioned in the police car while being transported to the police station, and parents or close relatives are often prevented from being present during a minor's interrogation,. The police must cease their overly-expansive interpretation of the exceptions and return to interrogating children only when their parents are present.
C. It should be further noted that in instances where police procedure is at odds with the provisions of law, as detailed above, the contrary instruction in the Police Ordinance should be canceled and/or amended so that it is in accordance with the law.
D. The Police are satisfied with generalized reasoning in their decisions to arrest minors suspects from East Jerusalem and interrogate them during the course of the night. This is despite the fact that both the Law and the Police Ordinance explicitly state that the arrest of juveniles should take place during the day. It should be emphasized that the questioning of minors at these hours, after they have been taken from their beds and brought to the police station, after having been made to wait several hours before the beginning of questioning, and after a sleepless night, is extremely problematic and liable to lead to false confessions. The police must act in accordance with the provisions of the Law in this matter as well, and cease its arrest and interrogation of minors at night.
E. The shackling and handcuffing of minors is against the Law and is totally unjustified other than in exceptional cases where all other alternative methods have been exhausted. Despite the severity of the consequences of handcuffing juveniles, many of the children in East Jerusalem who have either been detained or arrested have complained that their hands were cuffed by police officers when they were brought to the police station, or within the station itself and during their interrogation. The police must stop the routine use of handcuffs in shackling minors who are suspects and have not been convicted of any crime. They must cease the routine practice of handcuffing the minors they are arresting, and employ such measures only after all other alternatives have been exhausted.
F. Last year, several very young children from East Jerusalem, under the age of criminal responsibility (12 years), were detained and interrogated by the police, and were treated as suspects in every respect. The police have not been careful to distinguish between these younger children and those who are of age – not in their treatment of these children in interrogations, not in arrest and detainment procedures, regardless of whether they have criminal responsibility for their actions. Similarly, there is evidence that violence has been employed by police officers against some of these younger children. The police must cease immediately any and all use of force against minors, and strictly limit its physical contact with minors who have not yet reached the age of criminal responsibility at the time of their detainment and questioning. It must distinguish between these younger children and those over the age of 12, as required by law.
29. It is important to stress that the arrest and interrogation of minors, carried out against the law, have far-reaching implications that can significantly impact the welfare of children, especially mentally and behaviorally. As detailed above, many minors have suffered severe psychological reactions following their arrest, manifested in constant fear of security forces, nightmares and insomnia, deterioration in school studies, disturbing behavioral changes in relation to their environment and society, and more. In light of this, the police must treat children with necessary sensitivity in light of their age, their physical and emotional development, and because of the negative implications of interacting with law enforcement, particularly social and emotional consequences. All police interaction with minors must preserve their dignity and must give appropriate weight to considerations of their rehabilitation and reintegration into society.
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