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Newsletter - August 2018

Detention figures

According to the Israeli Prison Service (IPS), as of 30 June 2018 there were 5,667 Palestinians (West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza) held as “security prisoners” in Israeli detention facilities including 273 children (12-17 years). In the case of children there was a 6% decrease in the number compared with the previous month and an annual increase of 1% compared with 2017. These figures include 3 children held in administrative detention. According to the IPS, 54% of child detainees were unlawfully transferred and/or detained inside Israel in violation of Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention during the month. Child detention rates are currently up 37% since UNICEF published its child detention report in 2013.
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Evidence update

Based on 33 testimonies collected from children detained by the Israeli military in the West Bank in 2018, the situation remains largely unchanged since 2017. Nearly two-thirds of children (61%) report being arrested at night while the practice of using summonses in lieu of night arrests appears to have been largely discontinued. The majority of children continue to be handtied (88%) and blindfolded (85%) while over two-thirds (70%) report experiencing physical violence during their arrest, transfer and/or interrogation. While the percentage of children denied their right to silence remains unchanged (82%), there has been a small improvement in access to lawyers prior to questioning (21% up from 16%).
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The Netherlands responds to the unlawful transfer and detention question

On 7 December 2015, Military Court Watch (MCW) wrote to the Embassy of the Netherlands in Tel Aviv concerning the legal obligations imposed on the Netherlands under the Fourth Geneva Convention (the Convention) in relation to Israel’s decades long policy of transferring Palestinian child detainees from the West Bank to prisons in Israel. Under Article 76 of the Convention it is a war crime to transfer and/or detain protected persons outside occupied territory. Article 146 of the Convention imposes legal obligations on third party states to the Convention, such as the Netherlands, in relation to war crimes.
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A child’s testimony

On 26 August 2018, a 15-year-old youth was arrested after he attended Binyamin Police Station in response to a summons delivered at 2:00 a.m. He was released on 13 September 2018 after his father paid NIS 3,000. “On 20 August 2018, my sister woke up when she heard noises outside our house at 2:00 a.m. Then she heard loud banging at our front door. My mother opened the door and about 13 Israeli soldiers entered and asked for my father and me. My mother told the commander we were sleeping over at a relative’s house. The soldiers then searched the house and caused a big mess. An hour-and-a-half later they left.On 23 August 2018, my mother woke up again at around 2:00 a.m. to the sound of banging at our front door.
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A soldier’s video testimony: “We wrecked the house”

In this video a former Israeli soldier provides a testimony to Breaking the Silence describing how the army would take over a Palestinian home. On the first day soldiers take over a house, they promise not to ruin anything. Ten days later … “Suddenly the family walks in. They take a look at their house. They’re shocked. Totally stunned. They see their house in complete ruin. All their personal belongings shattered. We wrecked the house. I remember how ashamed I was at that moment, I realized how quickly we forgot the promise we made on the first day not to mess up the house. Suddenly I realized that we were caught at our worst.”
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NSW Legislative Assembly, Australia – Israeli Military Courts

(David Shoebridge MP) – “ In April last year, I visited the Israeli military courts in the occupied West Bank. One reason I went to see the operation of the military courts is that so many Palestinian children are prosecuted in them. Almost to a person, the children who are brought before these military courts are arrested within 800 metres of an illegal settlement in the West Bank—settlements that are illegal under the Fourth Geneva Convention. One of the most offensive things about the operation of these military courts is when you enter, they give you a briefing paper that says these courts are established in accordance with the Fourth Geneva Convention—the very convention that is flouted by Israel.”
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Source: Military Court Watch, Newsletter, August 2018 >>

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Military Court Watch - Newsletter August 2018