ISRAEL: Jerusalem child arrests break law

[JERUSALEM, 13 December 2010] - Police in Jerusalem are systematically breaking the law by arresting stone-throwing children at night and interrogating them without their parents, an Israeli rights group said on Monday.

B'Tselem said police were regularly violating Israeli law in their treatment of minors in the occupied east Jerusalem neighbourhood of Silwan, where tensions between settlers and Palestinians run high.

Confrontations in the east Jerusalem neighbourhood often involve stone-throwing by young Palestinians, and B'Tselem said at least 81 minors had been arrested between November 2009 and October 2010, most accused of throwing stones.

'The Jerusalem Police systematically violates the law, primarily the Youth Law, which grants minors special rights in criminal matters and prohibits, as a rule, interrogation of minors at night,' the group said.

The report said many arrests were made at night, 'by taking the minors from their beds and rushing them to interrogation... in most cases in order to obtain information on incidents that occurred a few days earlier.'

It also accused police interrogators of illegally preventing parents from attending the questioning of their children, and said many minors complained of violent treatment during their arrests.

 

Further information:

Palestine: Sixty Israeli professionals speak out at violence against children [Defence for Children International - Palestine Section, 1 December 2010]

Palestine: Suspended sentences for soldiers convicted of using 9-year-old as a human shield [Defence for Children International - Palestine Section, 21 November 2010] 

More on child rights in Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territories.  

pdf: http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/World/Story/STIStory_613372.html

Country: 

Please note that these reports are hosted by CRIN as a resource for Child Rights campaigners, researchers and other interested parties. Unless otherwise stated, they are not the work of CRIN and their inclusion in our database does not necessarily signify endorsement or agreement with their content by CRIN.