Detention of young children up 64%

December 09, 2009

[Ramallah, 9 December 2009] - According to the latest figures compiled by DCI-Palestine from sources including the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) and temporary Israeli army detention facilities, the number of Palestinian children detained in Israeli prisons and detention centres inside Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory at the end of November, was 306. In November, the number of Palestinian children held in Israeli detention facilities fell to 306, the lowest figure this year. However, the monthly average number of Palestinian children held in Israeli detention in 2009 still remains high, at 360 per month, compared with 319 in 2008. This represents an increase of 13%. Table 1 - Number of Palestinian children in Israeli detention at the end of each month since January 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 389 423 420 391 346 355 342 339 326 325 306 - (note: these figures are not cumulative) DCI-Palestine continues to be deeply concerned by the high number of young children between the ages of 12 and 15 being detained. At the end of November 2009, 41 children in this age category were being held in Israeli detention facilities, compared with 25 children in November 2008. This represents an increase of 64%. Table 2 - Number of young (12-15) Palestinians in Israeli detention at the end of each month since January 2008 Year/Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 2008 38 40 45 39 37 34 33 21 23 23 25 30 2009 50 54 53 47 39 47 42 39 40 44 41 - (note: these figures are not cumulative) One child, Hamdi al Tamari, remains in administrative detention, being detention without charge or trial. Hamdi is currently serving his fourth consecutive administrative detention order. As a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), Israel is legally bound to give effect to Article 37 which provides that 'the arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child... shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time.' If you wish to take action, then please consider lobbying your elected representatives and demand that pressure be applied on Israeli authorities to cease the practice of prosecuting Palestinian children as young as 12 in military courts, and detaining them inside Israel. For further information please see DCI-Palestine's latest report on Palestinian child prisoners.