On 20 July 2012, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Richard Falk, released a statement condemning Israel’s use of solitary confinement against Palestinian children.

According to professor Falk, “this pattern of abuse by Israel is grave. […] It is inhumane, cruel, degrading, and unlawful, and, most worryingly, it is likely to adversely affect the mental and physical health of underage detainees.”

The UN Special Rapporteur added that “using solitary confinement as a punishment for Palestinian children who wish to peacefully protest their situation, including by commencing a hunger strike against conditions of detention, is an appalling abuse of child prisoners. […] Prison conditions are often deplorable, requiring children to sleep on the floor or on a concrete bed in a windowless cell.”

Professor Falk appealed to the Government of Israel to treat Palestinian child detainees according with international standards, in particular with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and said that “an important step in the right direction would be to respect their rights and uphold their dignity.  This includes when they wish to protest their situation nonviolently, as by recourse to a hunger strike.”

Related links:

•    Voices from the Occupation - Khaled J. - Solitary confinement
•    DCI Urgent Appeal – Solitary Confinement
•    The Guardian - Cell 36: Palestinian children locked in solitary confinement in Israel – video
•    The Guardian - The Palestinian children – alone and bewildered – in Israel's Al Jalame jail
•    UK lawyers’ report – Children in military custody