On 20 March 2012, Defense for Children International-Palestine launched a new report:Bound, Blindfolded and Convicted: Children held in military detention.- An interview with a lawyer who represents children in the military courts;
- An interview with the director of the YMCA rehabilitation programme;
- An interview with an Israeli soldier, courtesy of Breaking the Silence;
- A Psychological opinion into the effects of military detention on children; and
- 25 case studies taken from child-detainees.
The report found that there is a systematic pattern of ill-treatment, and in some cases torture, of children held in the military detention system, with the majority of the abuse occurring during the first 48 hours. The key findings of the report are presented in the table below:
| # | Common complaints and areas of concern | Number of cases | Percentage of children |
| 1 | Hand ties | 296 | 95% |
| 2 | Blindfolds | 281 | 90% |
| 3 | Physical violence | 234 | 75% |
| 4 | Detention inside Israel in violation of Article 76 | 196 | 63% |
| 5 | Arrested between midnight and 5:00 am | 188 | 60% |
| 6 | Confession during interrogation |
180 | 58% |
| 7 | Threats | 178 | 57% |
| 8 | Verbal abuse and/or humiliation | 169 | 54% |
| 9 | Strip searched | 102 | 33% |
| 10 | Transferred on floor of vehicle | 98 | 32% |
| 11 | Signed/shown documents written in Hebrew | 91 | 29% |
| 12 | Solitary confinement | 38 | 12% |
The testimonies reveal that most children are arrested from villages located close to friction points, namely settlements built in violation of international law, and roads used by the Israeli army or settlers. The report includes 10 recommendations, which if implemented, would reduce the level of ill-treatment, but no one should be under any illusion that the treatment documented in the report can be eliminated so long as the friction points remain and Palestinian children are treated as second-class individuals.
The full report is available on line, and hard copies are available on request.
