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<p>The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right Hon. Friend
the Member for Faversham and Mid Kent (Mr Robertson), wrote to the Israeli Attorney
General on 31 March 2014 to welcome the steps taken to date and to call for further
measures, including the mandatory use of audio-visual recording of interrogations,
investigation into continued reports of single hand ties being used, and an end to
solitary confinement for children. These were key UK recommendations at Israel's Universal
Periodic Review session at the UN Human Rights Council on 29 October 2013.</p><p>
</p><p>A progress report published in October 2013 by the United Nations Children's
Fund (UNICEF) indicates that Israel has taken some positive steps towards addressing
the recommendations in the report. These include: the introduction of legal obligations
to inform the child's parents of an arrest and grant them legal status to be represented
in court, as well as to notify minors of their legal rights; and standard operating
procedures on methods of restraint. The Israeli military are also piloting a new procedure
across the West Bank, whereby children are issued a summons to attend a police station
in the morning, rather than being arrested at night, in their homes. The UK believes
that the report "Children in Military Custody" has helped contribute to
these changes in practice.</p><p> </p>
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