The Britain-Palestine All Party Parliamentary Group hosted an online briefing on Thursday 6 July at 2pm with Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCIP), who presented their latest report Arbitrary by Default: Palestinian children in the Israeli military court system.
Speakers were Brad Parker, Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCIP), Senior Adviser / Policy and Advocacy, Miranda Cleland, Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCIP), Advocacy Officer, and Ryvka Barnard, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Deputy Director. It was chaired by Andy McDonald MP.
In their report, DCIP finds that Israeli military courts are inherently not independent or impartial - as required to try civilians – and, as a result, that no Palestinian child should be subject to proceedings within them. The report also documents the various stages of ill-treatment and increasing use of administrative detention against Palestinian children, which is a practice that clearly amounts to arbitrary detention. Report here. See also this research from Save the Children.
Among the reports key findings are that:
- Three-quarters of children detained by Israeli forces endured some form of physical violence following arrest.
- 97% had no parent present during interrogation.
- Two-thirds were not properly informed of their rights.
- All were subject to Israeli military law that denies basic and fundamental fair trial protections and guarantees and prosecuted in Israel’s military court system which is not independent or impartial.
DCIP’s report has been published as part of their No Way to Treat a Child campaign, which is supported in the UK by Amnesty International, National Education Union, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Unison, War on Want, Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, Amos Trust, and the Council for Arab-British Understanding.
