News

On 18 May 2010, DCI-Palestine submitted 14 cases to the UN Special
Rapporteur on Torture for investigation. The submission relates to the
sexual assault, or threat of sexual assault, of Palestinian children at
the hands of Israeli soldiers, interogators and police between January
2009 and April 2010. The ages of the children range from 13 to 16 years.

DCI-Palestine is becoming increasingly alarmed at reports contained
in sworn affidavits received from children that they are being subjected
to sexual assault, or threat of sexual assault, in order to obtain
confessions.

DCI-Palestine has reviewed 100 sworn affidavits collected from
children in 2009, and in four percent of cases, children report being
sexually assaulted, whilst in 12 percent of cases, the children report
being threatened with sexual assault. The sexual assault and threats of
sexual assault documented by DCI-Palestine include grabbing boys by the
testicles until they confess and threatening boys as young as 13 years
with rape unless they confess to throwing stones at Israeli settler
vehicles in the occupied West Bank. DCI-Palestine suspects that these
figures may understate the extent of the problem.

In one of the cases documented by DCI-Palestine, a 15 year-old boy
recalls his experience after being arrested by Israeli soldiers from his
family home at 2am, in September 2009: