DCI concerned by sharp increase in detention of children

March 11, 2009 DCI concerned by sharp increase in detention of children

[RAMALLAH, 11 March 2009] – According to the latest figures compiled by DCI-Palestine from sources including the Israeli Prison Service (IPS), the number of Palestinian children detained in Israeli prisons and detention centres inside Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory rose sharply in February. At the end of February, there were 423 Palestinian children in the custody of the Israeli authorities - including seven girls and six children held without charge or trial in administrative detention. This figure represents a 37.8% increase over the corresponding period in 2008. 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 - - - - - - - - - - On 6 March 2009, the President of Defence for Children International (DCI) wrote to the Israeli Minister of Justice, Daniel Friedmann, seeking an explanation for the sharp increase in the number of Palestinian children being detained by Israel and notified the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child of these developments. In a further disturbing development, since the beginning of 2009, DCI-Palestine has observed an increase in the number of Palestinian children as young as 12, being arrested and detained for throwing stones, including throwing stones at the Wall. A copy of DCI’s letter to the Israeli Minister of Justice can be read here.