Shabana Mahmood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Shabana Mahmood on 2016-01-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of (a) the extent of differential treatment of Palestinian and Israeli child detainees by Israel and (b) whether that differential is consistent with Israelis international human rights obligations.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We remain concerned about the use of a dual court system whereby Palestinians, except East Jerusalem residents, are subject to the Israeli military court system, irrespective of the charge, whereas Israeli citizens are dealt with by the Israeli civil justice system. We are clear that Israel has legal obligations as an Occupying Power with respect to the Occupied Palestinian Territories under applicable international law. We regularly discuss with the Government of Israel implementation of those obligations and raise our serious concerns regarding such issues as the treatment of Palestinian children detained in Israeli prisons.