Jailed at age 12

The new law approved by the Israeli parliament allowing children as young as 12 to be jailed for what it calls terrorism was opposed by 16 Knesset members and supported by 32 with one abstention, a ratio that suggests the law’s contentiousness. It means that even though the bill was said to be necessary amid attacks by Palestinians in Israel and the West Bank, half the Knesset members who voted did not believe the law was a good idea and for good reason. The law will overturn what Israel enacted after a 2013 UNICEF report described abuses in the military court system as “widespread, systematic and institutionalized.” The age at which suspects could be prosecuted as adults was raised to 18 from 16, a separate youth court was created, and the amount of time minors can be detained without appearing before a judge was cut from 96 hours to 48 hours for 15-year-olds and 24 hours for those 14 and under. Under this new law, the fear is that the situation will return to the way it was, and in many cases still is. Israel prosecutes children in military courts that lack basic and fundamental fair trial guarantees. The majority of children are detained from their West Bank homes during the middle of the night by heavily armed Israeli soldiers. Several hours after their arrest, children arrive at an interrogation and detention center alone, sleep deprived and often bruised and scared. Interrogations tend to be coercive, including a variety of verbal abuse, threats and physical violence that ultimately result in a confession. Palestinian children are not accompanied by a parent and are generally interrogated without the benefit of legal advice, or being informed of their right to silence. Post-arrest, a child’s initial appearance in the military court is usually when he first sees a lawyer and his family. Although many children maintain their innocence, most plead guilty because this is the quickest way out of a system that rarely grants bail. Israeli military court judges, either active duty or reserve officers in the Israeli army, rarely exclude evidence obtained by coercion or torture, including confessions drafted in Hebrew, a language most Palestinian children do not understand. The Israeli organization B’Tselem was among those criticizing the new law, saying that rather than sending children to prison, Israel would be better off sending them to school where they could grow up in dignity and freedom not under occupation and that imprisoning such young minors denies them the chance of a better future. The Knesset’s approval came hours after Israel was also criticized of double standards in a meeting of the UN Security Council on children in armed conflict. No Israeli child comes into contact with the military court system. It would be impossible under Israeli law to sentence an Israeli child to an actual jail term. Not to mention that teenage Israeli soldiers are allowed to murder with impunity. While some countries call for accountability for violations against children in armed conflicts, when it comes to violations committed against Palestinian children by Israel, they remain silent.  Palestinian lawyers have had some success persuading judges to send young detainees to homes for troubled youths. At least there is a guarantee that one day they will return home. The new law has renewed a debate over how Israel’s military justice system handles very young offenders. The vast majority of Palestinian child detainees are charged with throwing stones. They are not exactly Israel’s chief threat to its existence. They don’t need to be subdued with the guided missiles of F-35s. But Israel does not see them as small children. It only sees them as terrorists.