Minors under military law
Hassem and his little sister.
Two minors detained for a night at a checkpoint in March.
The Sharabati family has 6 children, of which two are boys: one of 13 and one of 14 years. They live in the H2 (area C) of the city of Hebron, directly beneath the Tel Rumeida settlement, which is the last of the settlements connected to Kiryat Arba through the Shuhaddah street inside the city. The family lives in a one-story building, with two Israeli military lookouts on the roof that have been in place for 10 years. The family have sealed the windows on the back of their house to stop settler harassment.
The two boys, Hassem and Hussam, were playing soccer in the yard of a nearby house when four settler girls tried to attack them. The boys retreated into the closed yard of the Haddad family house, and the girls followed them and stayed for a while. The settler girls then went away and came back with soldiers, accusing the brothers of throwing rocks at them. The soldiers then arrested the two boys.
An ISM[1] representative had witnessed the event, and according to him the boys had not responded in any way to the settlers’ provocation, and the settlers had not made an official complaint to the soldiers. No official charges were filed against these boys either.
The brothers were detained by soldiers for over an hour, until the police arrived and took them to the Kiryat Arba police station. There they were held for around 5 hours, without being asked any questions. From there they were taken to the prison in the military base of Gush Etzion, near Bethlehem, where they were held blindfolded and handcuffed. The brothers were there from midnight until 6:00am, until they were transferred to Ramallah, to Ofer military prison. There they were searched, and also examined by a doctor. They were held there until a call came from Kiryat Arba police station, ordering the boys to be brought back. The ICRC was engaged on the boys’ case when they were detained.
From Kiryat Arba they were eventually released for a total fine of 1500 shekels for both boys, representing more than a month’s salary for the family. They were to return to the station the following day at 9:30am. The next morning they waited 5 hours at the station, before being told to go home. They were not told wether the case would go to court or not.
This is not an isolated event: in 2007, 700 Palestinians under 18 years old were arrested. At any given time during 2007, between 310 and 416 children were being held in Israeli prisons or detention centers[2]. Of imprisoned or detained Palestinians, 4% were under 18 in 2007[3].
In general, detaining people without giving them the reason for their arrest is in accordance with the military law Palestinians live under in the Occupied Territories. According to the Special Rapporteur of the U.N., Martin Scheinin: “The arrest and detention of Palestinians in the West Bank, with the exception of those from East Jerusalem, is governed to a large extent by military orders. Such orders do not require Israeli authorities to inform the person at the time of arrest of the reasons for their detention, at variance with article 9(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.” Further, with respect to children: “Article 37(b) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child requires, inter alia, that the detention or imprisonment of a child be used as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time.”[4]
The EAPPI-team in Hebron also attended a military court in Ofer against 14 year-old Fadi Ibrahim Abu–Daoud from the Al-Arub refugee camp on the 30th March. He was charged with throwing rocks at soldiers. According to our local contact and other eyewitnesses from the camp, the boy had been watching the event, and was confused by the soldiers with another boy with a similar red shirt.
The boy was detained in Ofer for a month before his trial. The trial we witnessed lasted about 15 minutes, concluding a new date for a new trial in a months time. The boy will spend this time detained as well.
According to the Human Rights Committee, the trial of civilians in military courts should be exceptional, and the that military courts’ jurisdiction should be limited to military personnel. Furthermore, the U.N. Special Rapporteur stated that: “the fact remains that military courts have an appearance of a potential lack of independence and impartiality, which on its own brings into question the fairness of trials.”[5]
Children in the West Bank are prosecuted in the same jurisdiction as adults[6]. Children of 16 and older are considered adults by courts, and receive the full sentences. The extension of detention described above is not uncommon. The Israeli organization YeshDin observed nine detention hearings of minors that lasted 3minutes 20seconds on average, and in all of them the detention was extended by a period from six to 28 days. Furthermore, sentences are given according to the age of the accused on the date of the sentencing, not at the time the offense was committed. Thus, prolonging detentions can exert pressure on defendants to plea bargain[7].
According to a representative of Defence for Children International, who deals in military courts, apart from minor differences in sentencing, children and adults are tried the same way: “Exactly the same. Totally. The same exact proceedings, the same procedure, everything is the same. There is no special interrogator for juveniles. There is no special juvenile judge. It’s the same judge for everybody.”[8]
[1] International Solidarity Movement
[2] http://www.dci-pal.org/english/display.cfm?DocId=726&CategoryId=1 (Save the Children, Palestine Section)
[3] Backyard Proceedings: The Implementation of Due Process Rights in the, Military Courts in the Occupied Territories. Yesh Din 2007. p.154-162.
[4] Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, MISSION TO ISRAEL, INCLUDING VISIT TO OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY,
Martin Scheinin 2007.
[5] ibid.
[6] http://www.dci-pal.org/english/publ/research/2008/PCPReport.pdf p.10
[7] Backyard Proceedings: The Implementation of Due Process Rights in the, Military Courts in the Occupied Territories. Yesh Din 2007. p.154-162.
[8] ibid.
