Israel’s military justice system regularly violates the rights of Palestinian minors. They are often arrested in the dead of night, led away handcuffed and blindfolded, and interrogated with physical and verbal violence or threats while they are tired and confused, cut off from their environment and without family members or other adults acting on their behalf. They usually meet their legal counsel for the first time in the military courtroom, and only then hear the charges against them. Instead of upholding their rights, Israel has created a façade of such protection by establishing a military juvenile court (which, in practice, focuses on authorizing plea bargains rather than examining evidence and investigating allegations), by legally shortening the incarceration periods (which can be repeatedly extended anyway), and by giving parents a minimal opportunity, subject to exceptional circumstances, to be involved in the trial (which usually does not take place as the proceedings end with a plea bargain).
In administrative detention, the minors do not even know the allegations against them. The judicial review is meaningless in these cases, too, as the judges sign off on almost all detention requests. The violation of minors’ rights in administrative detention is compounded by uncertainty, as the detention orders can be extended time and again, so detainees never know when they will be released. This ambiguity makes the situation much harder for the minors and their families, as it is unclear when they will be able to go back to their lives. B’Tselem’s field researchers collected testimonies in the cases of three minors, two of whom are still incarcerated and the third was released in early January 2020.