Contents
- 
Summary

- Background

- Action Required

- Sample letter
1. Summary
Israel currently holds 220 Palestinian children in its dungeons. There is widespread evidence of routine sexual assaults by interrogators on children who are shackled. They are threatened with rape or sodomy with an object in order to coerce false confessions and coerce them in to becoming informers. We are calling on the government to sanction Israel to release all the children and return them to their families.
2. Background
The delegation of British lawyers on the treatment of Palestinian children under Israeli military law, which the FCO commissioned, published a report in June 2012 which concludes that Israel is in breach of articles 2, 3, 37(b), 37(c), and 37(d) of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). The manner of arrest and detention of children amounts to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment which is prohibited in article 37(a) of the UNCRC, and its routine holding of children in solitary confinement for substantial periods of time amounts to torture.
So far the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) has ignored the report and continues to do business with Israel as normal.
3. Action Required
Join a vigil on Saturday 15th September 2012 at 4pm outside the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) to demand the FCO act on the findings of the report by the delegation of British lawyers on the treatment of Palestinian children under Israeli military law.
Write to the UK foreign minister requesting him to put pressure on the Israeli government to free Palestinian child prisoners who have been held illegally in Israeli jails.
4. Sample letter
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A sample letter is given below for your convenience. Please note that model letters can be sent directly or adjusted as necessary to include further details. If you receive a reply to the letter you send, we request you to send a copy of the letter you sent and the reply you received to IHRC. This is very important as it helps IHRC to monitor the situation with regards to our campaigns and to improve upon the current model letters. It is preferable that letters be sent via post, or otherwise by fax and/or email.

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Minister of foreign affairs in the UK. (UK campaigners can write using the address supplied below, fax: +44 (0)20 7839 2417 or email: private.office@fco.gov.uk)
[Your name]

[Your address]
[Date]
Rt. Hon. William Hague
Foreign & Commonwealth Office
 King Charles Street 
London, SW1A 2AH
Dear Mr. Hague,
Re: Palestinian child prisoners held illegally in Israeli jails
I am deeply concerned over the imprisonment of Palestinian Children by Israeli authorities.
Israel currently holds 220 Palestinian children in its dungeons. The delegation of British lawyers on the treatment of Palestinian children under Israeli military law, which the FCO commissioned, published a report in June 2012 which concludes that Israel is in breach of articles 2, 3, 37(b), 37(c), and 37(d) of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). The manner of arrest and detention of children amounts to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment which is prohibited in article 37(a) of the UNCRC, and its routine holding of children in solitary confinement for substantial periods of time amounts to torture.
This is inhumane and disgraceful. Why have you not demanded the release of all Palestinian child prisoners who are being held illegally? The Israelis cannot continue with these actions, and you must ensure that they are stopped. You cannot continue to be complicit in the climate of fear and oppression in Israel. The government has a moral duty to sanction Israel to release all the children who have been held illegally in Israeli jails.
I look forward to hearing back from you regarding this urgent matter,
Yours sincerely,

[Your signature]

[Your name]

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Holy Qur’an: Chapter 4, Verse 75
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