Arrests of children in East Jerusalem- A cost of settlements

Updated Urgent Appeal – Silwan, occupied East Jerusalem

Today, DCI-Palestine updated Urgent Appeal (UA 2/11) relating to the continued arrest of young children from the Silwan neighbourhood of occupied East Jerusalem. Since October 2010, DCI alone has investigated 31 cases and collected 25 affidavits. Our best estimate is that this may only represent about 30 percent of the cases involving children from Silwan -

Children of Silwan – Urgent Appeal 2/11 (Update)
http://www.dci-pal.org/english/doc/press/UA_2_11_SILWAN_16_Feb_2011.pdf

Video of arrests of children in Silwan

http://palestinevideo.blogspot.com/2011/01/brutal-arrest-of-4-children-in-silwan.html

Some points to note in the update are:

• Children below the minimum age of criminal responsibility (12 years) are being interrogated in Al Mascobiyya Interrogation Centre;

• 80 percent of the children report some form of physical violence during their arrest, transfer or interrogation;

• 75 percent of the children report being interrogated in the absence of a parent; and

• In 30 percent of cases, Palestinian children signed, or were shown, documentation written in Hebrew.

 Re: Arrest of children from An Nabi Salih

As previously mentioned, DCI-Palestine is receiving reports of an increase
in the number of children being arrested from the West Bank village of An
Nabi Salih. The village is situated approximately 15 kilometres north of
Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, and is adjacent to the illegal Israeli
settlement of Hallamish. In or about January 2010, the settlement expanded,
and more land from Nabi Salih was confiscated, giving rise to Friday
protests by the villagers. As is often the case, these protests start
peacefully, and end up with an exchange of tear gas, rubber bullets,
sometimes live ammunition and stones.

The following video clip and Voices give a glimpse into life in An Nabi
Salih:

• Arrest of a child in An Nabi Salih in January 2011 -
http://vimeo.com/19782878

• Voices – Arrest of a 15-year-old boy from An Nabi Salih in January 2011 -
http://www.dci-pal.org/english/doc/press/Voices_2011-02-08_ill_treatment.pdf

• Detention Bulletin (January 2011)-
http://www.dci-pal.org/english/doc/press/Detention_Bulletin_JAN_2011.pdf

In a recent report issued by DCI-Palestine, there was a finding that
Palestinian child detainees reported some form of abuse occurring inside a
settlement in 47.5% of cases -
http://www.dci-pal.org/English/Doc/Press/JANUARY2011.pdf

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Best regards

Gerard

Gerard Horton
International Advocacy Officer - Lawyer
Defence for Children International – Palestine Section
Tel: +972  2 242 75 30 ext. 103
Fax: +972  2 242 70 18
Mobile: + 972 0599 087 290
Email: gerard@dci-pal.org <mailto:gerard%40dci-pal.org>