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Israel is the only country in the world that systematically prosecutes children in military courts – between 500 and 700 each year. The Israel Prison Service revealed that an average of 204 Palestinian children have been held in custody every month since 2012.
Ill-treatment in the Israeli military detention system remains “widespread, systematic, and institutionalised throughout the process”. These were the conclusions of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) report ‘Children in Israeli Military Detention Observations and Recommendations‘.
Palestinian children as young as 12 are routinely:
- Taken from their homes at gunpoint in night-time raids by soldiers.
- Blindfolded, bound and shackled.
- Interrogated without a lawyer or relative being present and with no audio-visual recording.
- Put into solitary confinement.
- Forced to sign confessions (often in Hebrew – a language they do not understand).
For more information:
PSC Factsheet on Child Prisoners
Defence for Children International Palestins (DCI-P) website
In 2017, DCIP lawyers conducted 60 visits to prisons and collected 161 sworn affidavits and torture forms to monitoring Israeli violations against children during arrest, interrogation and trial. Out of the 161 testimonies, 137 were for children from the West Bank and 24 were for children from East Jerusalem. The analysis of the affidavits and questionnaires as follow:
| Ill treatment form | W. Bank & E. Jerusalem | Percent | W. Bank | Percent | E. Jerusalem | Percent |
| Hand ties and leg ties | 150 | 93.2% | 130 | 94.9% | 20 | 83.3% |
| Blindfolded | 124 | 77.0% | 120 | 87.6% | 4 | 16.7% |
| Physical Violence | 120 | 74.5% | 102 | 74.5% | 18 | 75.0% |
| Verbal Abuse Humiliations and Intimidation | 98 | 60.9% | 85 | 62.0% | 13 | 54.2% |
| Strip searched | 126 | 78.3% | 109 | 79.6% | 17 | 70.8% |
| Denial of adequate food and water | 57 | 35.4% | 50 | 36.5% | 7 | 29.2% |
| Threats and Inducement | 52 | 32.3% | 44 | 32.1% | 8 | 33.3% |
| Denial of access the Toilet | 35 | 21.7% | 35 | 25.5% | 0 | 0.0% |
| Position Abuse | 31 | 19.3% | 27 | 19.7% | 4 | 16.7% |
| Transfer on Vehicle Floor | 64 | 39.8% | 63 | 46.0% | 1 | 4.2% |
| Shown or signed paper in Hebrew | 98 | 60.9% | 75 | 54.7% | 23 | 95.8% |
| Solitary Confinement for more than two days | 26 | 16.1% | 26 | 19.0% | 0 | 0.0% |
| Confinements with Adults | 5 | 3.1% | 5 | 3.6% | 0 | 0.0% |
| Night Arrest | 73 | 45.3% | 69 | 50.4% | 4 | 16.7% |
| Not informed of rights | 95 | 59.0% | 91 | 66.4% | 4 | 16.7% |
| Attempt to recruitment | 5 | 3.1% | 5 | 3.6% | 0 | 0.0% |
| Not informed of the reason for arrest | 138 | 85.7% | 114 | 83.2% | 24 | 100.0% |
| No access to counsel prior to interrogation | 95 | 59.0% | 90 | 65.7% | 5 | 20.8% |
| No Lawyer or family member present during interrogation | 156 | 96.9% | 132 | 96.4% | 24 | 100.0% |