A/HRC/31/40 removes a key safeguard against torture, ill-treatment and the extraction of “confessions” under duress (see CCPR/C/ISR/CO/4, para. 14). Changes to laws affecting children’s rights 5. 49. On 20 July, the Knesset amended the criminal law to increase the maximum sentence for throwing stones or other objects at moving vehicles, to 20 years when the intent to harm the occupants of the vehicle can be established (irrespective of the harm caused), and 10 years when the intent cannot be proven. Throwing stones at a police vehicle can lead to a sentence of up to five years, irrespective of whether damage or injury was caused. 50. This was followed by a retrograde change in policy, in August 2015, by the State Prosecutor, requiring all prosecutors to seek detention of suspects charged with stonethrowing until the end of legal proceedings. This practice had already been used by the Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office since July 2014, reportedly with the result that most arrested children remained in detention for at least two to three months before release. The prosecutorial directive is inconsistent with the presumption of release on bail under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The measures invariably target Palestinian children who tend to resort to such forms of protest, and therefore violate the requirement that the detention of children be a measure of last resort (art. 37 (b) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child). 51. On 2 November 2015, the Knesset passed an additional temporary order, valid for three years, amending the Youth Law and the National Insurance Law, thereby providing for the revocation of national insurance entitlements for children convicted of “securityrelated” offences (including stone-throwing), and imposing a fine of 10,000 shekels (approximately US$ 2,500) on parents of a child convicted of stone-throwing. 6. Human rights defenders and journalists 52. Physical attacks against, and harassment of, human rights defenders continued, especially against the backdrop of the upsurge of violence since September 2015. Protective presence organizations in Hebron faced repeated threats, assaults and arrests, by settlers and Israeli security forces. In October 2015, posters appeared in Hebron with photos of staff of these organizations, branding them as anti-Semitic “hostile anarchists” and calling for them “to be dealt with”. 53. The Palestinian Centre for Development and Media Freedoms documented hundreds of instances of journalists subjected to harassment over the reporting period. 38 In a number of instances, journalists reporting on protests were physically assaulted by elements of the Israeli security forces, who also damaged or confiscated their equipment.39 Journalists and human rights defenders have a vital role in society as they report on human rights violations and abuses and promote accountability. Their harassment has a chilling effect on freedom of expression. 7. Hostilities in Gaza 54. According to the Department of Safety and Security of the Secretariat, during the reporting period, Israel carried out 31 airstrikes in Gaza, reportedly in retaliation for 24 rockets fired into Israel by Palestinian armed groups (a further 66 fell short). In one incident 38 39 See www.madacenter.org/reports.php?id=13&lang=1. See http://972mag.com/watch-israeli-soldiers-attack-cameras-belonging-to-palestinian-foreignjournalists/112049. 11