Question
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel and what response they have received concerning the second update by UNICEF issued in February 2015 on its report of March 2013 entitled "Children in Military Detention", with reference to the alleged ill-treatment of children during arrest, transfer, interrogation and detention.
Answered on
5 March 2015
Since the publication of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office-funded independent report on Children in Military Custody in June 2012, there has been some progress on the issue of children held in military detention. This includes a pilot to use summons instead of night-time arrests, and steps to reduce the amount of time a child can be detained before seeing a judge. We have welcomed the steps taken to date, but we have called for further measures, including the mandatory use of audio-visual recording of interrogations, investigation into continued reports of single hand ties being used, and an end to solitary confinement for children. We continue to have concerns about mistreatment of Palestinian detainees, including during arrest, transfer, interrogation and detention and about Israel’s respect of its obligations in this regard as an Occupying Power under applicable international law. We have raised concerns over treatment of Palestinian detainees with the Israeli authorities on many occasions, including at Foreign Minister, Attorney General and National Security Adviser levels. We have not made representations to the Government of Israel specifically concerning the second update by the UN International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) on its report, “Children in Military Detention”.