'Children in Military Custody'-Report by British Lawyers on Palestinian Children in Israeli Jails

This important report, published by a group of British lawyers, funded by the UK Foreign Office, has highlighted the inhumane treatment of Palestinian child prisoners by Israel. In the report’s damning conclusion, the lawyers stated that the reluctance to treat Palestinian child prisoners in accordance with international law may stem from the Israeli view that every Palestinian child is a ‘potential terrorist’ which leads to a ”spiral of injustice”.

It shows how Israeli settlers and Palestinians are subject to different laws, so a Palestinian child can be held for up to 90 days without access to a lawyer and for 188 days without charge, whereas an Israeli child could only be held for two and 40 days respectively. When arrested, Palestinian children are not informed of their right to silence or a lawyer and are routinely held in solitary confinement. At present, 192 Palestinian children are imprisoned in Israeli jails, 39 of these are under the age of 16.