A/HRC/28/78 Rights Committee in October 2014.40 The key concerns related to cases of night-time arrest, handcuffing, blindfolding, strip-searching, physical and verbal abuse, and denial of access to a lawyer or to parents, and the fact that many children are forced to sign confession documents in Hebrew, which they do not understand. 56. It appears that Israel has taken note of some of the recommendations made by UNICEF in its report, including by introducing some procedural adjustments;41 for example, in April 2013, Israel reduced the amount of time that children accused of what Israel classes as “security offences” spend in detention prior to their first court hearing (from eight days to four days, or even 24 hours, depending on the age of the child), although this time may be doubled in special circumstances. These time frames are nonetheless reportedly still twice as long as those prescribed in the laws applicable to children from Israeli settlements. It was also reported that, in April 2014, Israel introduced a pilot scheme of issuing summonses to children as an alternative to terrifying night-time arrests; many summonses are, however, reportedly delivered after midnight, putting into question the good faith application of the pilot scheme. Two years since the UNICEF report, the information received by the Special Rapporteur suggests that the findings made by UNICEF remain valid. 57. The Head of the Palestinian Commission for Detainees and ex-Detainees Affairs, Issa Qaraqe, informed the Special Rapporteur that affidavits from many children released from detention confirmed that beatings and torture were “commonplace” and resulted in chronic psychological problems for young children. This was collaborated by the findings of a non-governmental organization, which collected 105 sworn testimonies from children between November 2012 and July 2014. Of the 105 testimonies, 99 children had had their hands tied; 85 had been blindfolded; 72 had been shown or had signed documents in Hebrew, which they did not understand; 63 had experienced physical abuse; 49 had been arrested in the middle of the night (usually between midnight and 5 a.m.); 48 had been transferred on the floor of a vehicle; 47 had received threats; 41 had experienced verbal abuse; and 27 had been strip-searched. Only 13 had been informed of their right to silence; and just six had received a summons in lieu of night arrest. Parents had been present throughout interrogation in only six cases, and five children had been reportedly allowed to consult a lawyer prior to interrogation. Three children had been placed in solitary confinement at some stage of their detention. 42 Most of these acts of ill-treatment reportedly occurred during the first 24 hours following arrest. 58. According to information received from a Palestinian non-governmental organization, the vast majority of Palestinian children brought before a military court reportedly pleaded guilty under the pressure of interrogation, also because it was the fastest way to be freed from Israeli custody. Of the 287 cases involving child detainees in 2012 and 2013, the conviction rate was an extraordinarily high 99.5 per cent among the 181 children charged. 59. Moreover, according to information received by the Special Rapporteur, an estimated 60 per cent of Palestinian child detainees from the Occupied Palestinian Territory are held in prisons and detention facilities inside Israel, in violation of article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. For children, this mean that they receive fewer families visits because of the time it takes to obtain a permit or due to the fact that permits are denied for 40 41 42 CCPR/C/ISR/CO/4. See UNICEF, Children in Israeli Military Detention, Observations and Recommendations, Bulletin No. 1, October 2013. Military Court Watch, “Children in Military Custody: 2 years on”, 1 September 2014. 17