Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his attention has been drawn to the recently released Children in Military Custody report, which was sponsored by the British Foreign Office, and details the imprisonment and torture of Palestinian children by Israeli forces; if he has raised the report with the Israeli Government in view of the fact that it shows that Israel is in breach of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44805/12]

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his attention has been drawn to the Breaking the Silence report, which contains testimonies from former Israeli soldiers, on the way the Israeli army routinely mistreated children in occupied Palestinian territories; if he has raised the damning report with the Israeli Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44803/12]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 47 and 53 together.

There can be no doubt that the Israeli military justice system is failing to provide adequate protections and safeguards for Palestinian children.

The testimonies from Israeli soldiers contained in the Breaking the Silence report make for harrowing reading. The testimonies indicate a frequent use of violence that requires urgent investigation within the Israeli state structures over and above the limited actions taken to date. Former soldiers testify to feeling afraid to speak up to protect detainees. Police and soldiers must feel that their actions will be called to account. Serious abuses are not just contrary to human rights law but, I believe, contrary to the genuine interests of Israel, as they only serve to deepen divisions between Israelis and Palestinians.

The report by a delegation of British lawyers on the treatment of Palestinian children under the Israeli occupation reveals in particular the disparity between the treatment afforded to Palestinian children under military law and that afforded to Israeli children under civilian law. This mirrors a more general pattern of injustice under the occupation. I believe that in any society there should be equal treatment of children, irrespective of religion, race or ethnicity. I therefore welcome the steps recently introduced by Israel, such as increasing the age of majority for Palestinian children from 16 to 18, to bring military law governing juvenile justice more into line with civilian law. However, it is clear that a more comprehensive reform programme is required, most urgently in the rules governing the interrogation process.

The UK report highlights a failure to meet international norms in describing how children are interrogated without the protective presence of a parent or guardian and often suffer physical violence during interrogation. I believe the most effective safeguard would be the audio-visual recording of interrogations. This would protect Palestinian children against mistreatment while also providing protection to Israeli officials against vexatious allegations. A further problem is that the location of many police stations and detention centres within Israeli settlements means that parents can be unable to see their children in detention for extended periods.

These are not new or insoluble issues. Police forces all over the developed world, including in these islands, have had to modernise their methods and increase their safeguards for detainees, because these kinds of abuses can become endemic if allowed. Methods and standards which Israelis rightly regard as unacceptable for use in relation to their own children should not be employed on Palestinian children.

My officials have raised the issue of violence during detention directly with the Israeli authorities, most recently in a meeting earlier this month. We have urged that effective investigations be carried out into any allegations of mistreatment of children during detention. I have asked my officials to raise this issue again tomorrow in a meeting which they will be having with the Israeli Foreign Ministry and to relay my concern that urgent reform of the rules governing interrogation is required.