FOURTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE UNICEF REPORT ON CHILDREN IN MILITARY DETENTION IN ISRAEL

That this House notes 6 March 2017 as the fourth anniversary since the publication of the UNICEF report, Children in Israeli Military Detention; further notes that following the review of the application of martial law in the West Bank, including analysis of over 400 affidavits collected from detained children, UNICEF concluded that the ill-treatment of children who come in contact with the military detention system appears to be widespread, systematic and institutionalised; recognises UNICEF framed 38 recommendations to implement Israel's legal obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Israeli military and civilian law, and accepted international norms relevant to the treatment of children in custody; acknowledges that following the release of UNICEF's report in 2013, Israel implemented a number of positive legal, procedural and administrative developments to the system of martial law but regrets that UNICEF has observed a 98 per cent increase in child detention during the intervening four years, with 61 per cent of parents not being notified of the reasons for arrest, or place of detention in cases where children were arrested from home; and observes the practice of detaining children without charge or trial in administrative detention has been re-introduced following a four-year hiatus with 50 per cent of children continuing to be transferred out of the West Bank to detention facilities inside Israel contrary to Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention; and encourages the Israeli Government to review the system of martial law applied in the West Bank to address the recommendations promulgated by UNICEF in 2013.