The number of Palestinian children being arrested and detained by Israeli authorities continued to rise in February. According to the latest figures compiled by DCI-Palestine from sources including the Israeli Prison Service (IPS), the number of Palestinian children (12-17 years) detained in Israeli facilities at the end of February was 423. This represents a 37.8% increase over the corresponding period in 2008.
Child appearing in Ofer Military Court, West Bank
DCI-Palestine cannot be sure why the Israeli army is now arresting more children, some as young as 12, but suspects that it is related to the increase in number of public demonstrations in the West Bank against the recent war in Gaza.
Table 1 Number of Palestinian children in Israeli detention Year/Month
|
|
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
|
2008 |
327 |
307 |
325 |
327 |
337 |
323 |
324 |
293 |
304 |
297 |
327 |
342 |
|
2009 |
389 |
423 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
Among these children in detention are seven girls, and a further six children held in administrative detention under Israeli Military Order 1591, which provides for detention without charge or trial.
On 6 March 2009, the President of Defence for Children International (DCI) wrote a letter to the Israeli Minister of Justice, Mr. Daniel Friedmann, seeking an official explanation as to why the Israeli army is arresting so many Palestinian children. At the date of issue of this bulletin, Mr. Friedmann has not replied to DCI’s request.
DCI has also notified the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child of these developments, as Israel is party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child which stipulates: ‘[T]he arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child shall be in conformity with the law and shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time.’ Art. 37b
