Following an increasing number of allegations of ill-treatment of children in Israeli military detention, UNICEF conducted a review of practices related to children who come into contact with the military detention system, from apprehension, to court proceedings and outcome. The report gives 38 recommendations for improving the protection of children.
It is understood that in no other country are children systematically tried by juvenile military courts that, by definition, fall short of providing the necessary guarantees to ensure respect for their rights. All children prosecuted for offenses they allegedly committed should be treated in accordance with international juvenile justice standards, which provide them with special protection.
The report has been assigned extra weight in the Israeli media because UNICEF is not one of the UN bodies regularly dismissed as having an anti-Israel bias.