ISRAEL’S MISTREATMENT OF PALESTINIAN CHILDREN CONTINUES

By Dr. Cesar Chelala

A UNICEF report issued last March, “Children in Israeli Military Detention,” was sharply critical of Israel’s treatment of detained Palestinian children and youths. According to that report, 700 Palestinian children aged 12-17, most of them boys, are arrested and harshly interrogated by the Israeli military, police and security agents every year in the occupied West Bank.

Now, a new UNICEF progress report states that although some progress has been achieved “violations are ongoing” seven months after the original report was released. The progress report states that there were 19 sample cases of abuse of youths between 12 and 17 in the occupied West Bank in the second quarter of 2013.

The information on mistreatment of Palestinian children and youths is the result of several years of information gathering by UN agencies related to grave violations committed against Palestinian children in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory. This information is regularly reported to the United Nations Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict.

Last June, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child confirmed the abuses against Palestinian children, including torture, solitary confinement and threats of death and sexual assault in prisons. “These crimes are perpetrated from the time of arrest, during transfer and interrogation, to obtain a confession but also on an arbitrary basis as testified by several Israeli soldiers,” stated the committee.

The reported abuses of Palestinian children confirm what the organisation Breaking the Silence, constituted by Israeli soldiers who served in the IDF and work to expose human rights violations, had stated in its report called “Children and Youth, Soldiers Testimonies 2005-2011.” In one of the testimonies, a soldier from the Nahal Brigade with the rank of first sergeant, stated: “On your first arrest mission you’re sure it’s a big deal, and it is actually bullshit. You enter the Abu Sneina (Hebron) neighbourhood and pick up three children. After that whole briefing, you’re there with your bulletproof vest and helmet and stuck with that ridiculous mission of separating women and children. It’s all taken so seriously and then what you end up is a bunch of kids, you blindfold and shackle them and drive them to the police station at Givat Ha’vot. That’s it, it goes on for months and you eventually stop thinking there are any terrorists out there, you stop believing there’s an enemy, it’s always some children and adolescents or some doctor we took out. You never know their names, you never talk with them, they always cry, shit in their pants.”

According to Article 37 of the Convention of the Rights of the Child, State Parties shall ensure that “No child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,”…and “Every child deprived of his or her liberty shall have the right to prompt access to legal and other appropriate assistance, as well as the right to challenge the legality of the deprivation of his or her liberty before a court or other competent, independent and impartial authority, and to a prompt decision on any such action.” These provisions have been repeatedly violated by the Israeli authorities.

As UNICEF states, “In addition to Israel’s obligations under international law, the guiding principles relating to the prohibition against torture in Israel are to be found in a 1999 decision of the Supreme Court, which is also legally binding on the Israeli military courts. The Court concluded that a reasonable interrogation is necessarily one free of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and that this prohibition is absolute.”

Ill-treatment of Palestinian minors begins with the arrest itself, which is carried out usually in the middle of the night by heavily armed soldiers, and continues through prosecution and sentencing. Most minors are arrested for throwing stones; however, they suffer physical violence and threats, many are coerced into confessing for acts they didn’t commit and, in addition, many times they don’t have access to a lawyer or family during questioning. According to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, 7,000 children aged 12 to 17 years, but some as young as nine, have been arrested, interrogated and detained since 2002.

Israeli government abuses against Palestinian children are not limited to the West Bank. In the past, UNICEF has also reported that one baby in three risks death because of medical shortages in Gaza. Israel’s government had also prohibited the distribution of special food to about 20,000 Gazan children under age five resulting in anaemia, stunted growth and general weakness as a result of malnutrition.

Israel’s government has stated its intention to continue working with UNICEF to address the issue of mistreatment of Palestinian children. However, treatment of children and adolescents under detention as it is carried out even now contravenes Israel’s democratic principles and contributes to the perpetuation of the Middle East conflict and to the search for a just and lasting peace in the region.

Dr. Cesar Chelala is a co-winner of an Overseas Press Club of America award.

UK RAISES CONCERNS OVER ISRAEL'S TREATMENT OF PALESTINIAN CHILDREN

Foreign Office minister says he has raised concerns about treatment of Palestinian children in Israeli detention.

The British government has raised concerns about Israel's treatment of Palestinian minors arrested and interrogated for stone-throwing and other crimes, highlighted in an article in the Guardian.

Alistair Burt, the Foreign Office minister for the Middle East, urged Israel to address the UK government's concerns when on a visit to the country a fortnight ago.

Burt told the Guardian he had "raised concerns about the treatment of Palestinian children in Israeli detention. I urged the Israeli government to address these concerns."

Burt was also asked in the House of Commons last week about the issue of solitary confinement for Palestinian minors. Labour MP Sandra Osborne called on the government to condemn the practice and demand the release of 106 children detained in the Israeli military prison system.

In response, Burt referred to an earlier statement in which he said the practice of shackling children was wrong. Minors are routinely shackled throughout court hearings in the Israeli military justice system.

Osborne told the Guardian Israel's treatment of Palestinian minors was "unjustified in the context of human rights". She had been appalled and distressed on visits to the Israeli military juvenile court at Ofer, near Jerusalem. "No civilised democracy should treat children in that way," she said.

The Israeli human rights group B'Tselem said the state should apply the same protection to Palestinian minors in detention that it allows to Israeli children.

B'Tselem confirmed that descriptions given to the Guardian by Palestinian juveniles of arrest, detention and interrogation under the military justice system were consistent with testimonies it had collected although mostly with over-18s.

"We have also seen long periods of solitary confinement in a small cell, with lights on 24 hours a day, with detainees unable to follow time and disconnected to the rest of the world," said B'Tselem spokeswoman Sarit Michaeli. "We have testimonies of detainees cuffed in painful positions while under interrogation and sometimes left for long periods.

"Throughout the military justice process, the rights of suspects are violated."

B'Tselem, she said, took issue with the claim by Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev that detainees alleging mistreatment would have complaints dealt with fairly. "This is disingenuous at best," she said.

A B'Tselem study last year showed that out of more than 700 complaints of abuse by Israeli Security Agency (ISA) interrogators brought between 2001 and 2011, none resulted in a criminal investigation.

The complaints were examined by an official of the ISA. "It is not surprising that in most cases the inspector determines that the complaint is not true," said B'Tselem.

In a few cases, the inspector found abuse had taken place but the file was closed without the state attorney's office ordering a criminal investigation. B'Tselem said this "transmits a message to … the potential complainants that the chances of measures being taken against the persons responsible is zero".

Regev insisted anyone who had a complaint that an Israeli official had acted in an improper fashion should bring the information to the Israeli authorities and civil courts. "It will be thoroughly investigated," he said.

He added: "Minors deserve special attention, special consideration … The test of a democracy is how you treat people incarcerated, people in jail, and especially so with minors."

B'Tselem said the provisions of Israeli youth law should formally be applied to Palestinian minors. Night-time arrests in military operations should cease; interrogations should be video-taped; minors should be questioned in the presence of a parent or lawyer; they should have their rights clearly read to them; and proper options for remand should be put in place.

Unicef, the UN agency for children, also raised concerns following the Guardian's article. Children had the "right to protection against violence and abuse," it said in a statement. Unicef was "monitoring the arrest and detention of children and is currently in dialogue with the Israeli authorities to improve the protection of child detainees … All children, at all times, must be treated with dignity and respect, in accordance with the convention on the rights of the child."

In the first 11 months of last year, 222 cases of stone-throwers were brought before the military court, according to a letter sent by the Israeli foreign ministry to Lady Scotland, who visited the Ofer court last autumn, and is writing a report on her findings.

The period from indictment to the conclusion of proceedings had dropped to an average of 92.5 days in 2011 from 167 days in 2007, the letter said.

It pointed out that "many crimes carried out by minors in [the West Bank] are of a violent ideological nature and pose a clear and imminent threat to the public … Despite the unique dilemmas in the dealing with minor suspects in [the West Bank], Israel makes significant efforts to provide for just and fair treatment throughout the entire military legal process in accordance with international standards."

Human rights organisations say Israel's treatment of Palestinian minors breaches the international convention on the rights of the child and the fourth Geneva convention.

source : http://www.guardian.co.uk

SWEDISH PHOTOGRAPHER PAUL HANSEN WINS WORLD PRESS PHOTO AWARD

Hansen won for newspaper Dagens Nyheter for a photo of Palestinian men marching the body of two children killed in an Israeli missile strike to their funeral.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

AP PHOTO/PAUL HANSEN, DAGENS NYHETER

AMSTERDAM - Swedish photographer Paul Hansen won the 2012 World Press Photo award Friday for newspaper Dagens Nyheter with a picture of two Palestinian children killed in an Israeli missile strike being carried to their funeral.

The picture shows a group of men marching the dead bodies through a narrow street in Gaza City. The victims, a brother and sister, are wrapped in white cloth with only their faces showing.

"The strength of the pictures lies in the way it contrasts the anger and sorrow of the adults with the innocence of the children," said jury member Mayu Mohanna of Peru. "It's a picture I will not forget."

World Press Photo, one of photojournalism's most prestigious contests, issued awards in nine categories to 54 photographers of 32 nationalities.

Hansen's Nov. 20 shot won top prize in both the spot news single photograph category and the overall competition. It portrays 2-year-old Suhaib Hijazi and her 3-year-old brother Muhammad, who were killed when their house was destroyed by the Israeli attack. They are being carried by grieving uncles, as their father Fouad was also killed, and his body can be seen in the background of the picture.

The children's mother, whose name was not provided, was in intensive care.

The competition also includes portrait series, scenes from everyday life, and nature photography, among others.

The contest drew entries from professional press photographers, photojournalists and documentary photographers across the world. In all, 103,481 images were submitted by 5,666 photographers from 124 countries.

The photos were submitted anonymously to a panel of 19 jury members, chaired by AP Director of Photography Santiago Lyon, and judged in multiple rounds.

The winners were all "stellar examples of first-rate photojournalism," Lyon said.

Other judges came from Germany, Iraq, Peru, France, Sweden, China, Britain, Spain, Azerbaijan, South Africa, The Netherlands, Switzerland and the U.S.

Hansen will receive a (euro) 10,000 prize at ceremonies and the opening of the year's exhibition April 25-27 in Amsterdam.

Source : NYDailyNews.com

HALF ISRAEL’S PALESTINIAN CHILD PRISONERS ARE HELD ILLEGALLY OUTSIDE WEST BANK IN G4S-EQUIPPED PRISONS

Activists protest outside G4S headquarters in London. (Photo: inminds.com)

Israel is detaining 195 Palestinian children from the West Bank, more than half of them outside of the occupied territory in violation of international law, according to recent Israeli figures.

In an appeal from Defence for Children International - Palestine Section (DCI-PS), the group writes that according to December 2012 Israeli Prison Service figures, 51 percent of child detainees had been transferred to Megiddo, Moscobiyye, Hasharon and al-Jalame (Kishon) prisons located outside the West Bank.

This transfer to Israel is a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, in particular articles 49, 66 and 76. The latter states that “persons accused of offenses shall be detained in the occupied country.”

Israeli requires vistors from the West Bank and Gaza to obtain permits to travel to these prisons. This restrictive permit system is a serious obstacle for lawyer and families.

Ninety-four of these children are held in Ofer prison in the West Bank. All these detention facilities have been equipped by British-Danish security firm G4S.

Who Profits (a project of the Coalition of Women for Peace based in Tel Aviv) has researched G4S’s role in securing Israel’s prisons. They found that G4S Israel has installed and operates the central control room of the Megiddo prison. It has provided the entire security systems and central control room in Hasharon and the security systems for al-Jalame and Moscobiyye (also known as the Russian Compound) detention and interrogation centers.

At Ofer prison, G4S has installed peripheral defense systems and operates a central control room for the entire compound.

Testimony of 15-year-old Salah

DCI-PS continues to document testimonies by Palestinian child prisoners. For example,15-year-old Salah was arrested by Israeli soldiers in Qalqiliya on 14 January. Salah was looking for sage plants in the small forest near his village when four Israeli soldiers accused him of having thrown stones. Salah denied this. He recounts:

They started shouting at me. One of them punched me really hard in the face and knocked me down. The four of them started kicking me and hitting me with the barrel of their rifles.

Salah’s hands were then tied tightly behind his back with a single plastic cord. Salah’s father arrived but the soldiers prevented him from approaching his son. Salah was pulled by the plastic cord and made to walk very fast toward the main street. Once on the main street he was blindfolded and ordered to sit next to the jeep. About half an hour later more jeeps arrived and Salah was forced into one of them and made sit on the metal floor. He was not told where he was being taken.

Israeli soldiers inside the jeep verbally abused Salah insulting him and calling him “dog, son of a whore.” After the jeep stopped, “they pulled me out and made me walk for about ten minutes, with one of them kicking me from behind. I was kept tied and blindfolded. I fell twice,” Salah said.

At Ariel police station, Salah was interrogated without having been informed of his rights. Salah told DCI-PS that the interrogator called him a liar for denying he had thrown stones:

About ten minutes later, two of the four soldiers who arrested me came in and started slapping and kicking me about ten times at least. “You threw stones,” they were shouting. Then, the interrogator came back and saw them beating me, but he did not do anything. They stopped beating me and left the room. “Did you throw stones?” the interrogator asked. “Yes I did,” I said, because I was afraid they might come back and beat me again.

Salah was ordered to sign a statement written in Arabic without having read it or without having it been explained to him. Salah was again blindfolded and forced to sit on the metal floor of the jeep. With his hands tied, he arrived at Huwwara detention and interrogation center where he was strip searched.

Two soldiers standing by the door started beating me for no reason. They slapped me several times and one of them hit me on the head with something. I felt so much pain and my head swelled. I did not know what he hit me with. I screamed because of the pain but they did not give me any medical attention. My head remained swollen for two days.

Later, Salah was transferred to Megiddo prison inside Israel and again strip searched on arrival.

Testimony of 14-year-old Ehsan

ehsan_a_dci_ps.jpg

Ehsan from Jenin

 (Defence for Children International-Palestine Section)

On 13 December last year, 14-year-old Ehsanand his brother Osama were playing with a group of children near the wall in their village near the northern West Bank city of Jenin. Two Israeli soldiers saw the group and “one of them opened fire at us for no reason.”

In response, some of the children began to throw stones at the soldiers. More soldiers arrived and began to chase the group, catching Ehsan’s brother Osama. Ehsan returned to Osama to try to help him escape from the soldiers. Ehsan reached for his brother. The soldier who held Osama grabbed Ehsan and started to kick and slap him:

They kept doing this for about five minutes. Then they tied my hands behind my back with two plastic cords and tightened them hard. They did the same to my brother.

They two brothers were blindfolded and pushed into a military jeep where they were forced to sit on the metal floor. They did not know they were taken to al-Jalame checkpoint, where they were pulled out of the jeep and forced to sit on the ground. “A soldier asked me why I threw stones and I told him that I did not do it, but he called me a liar, a dog and an animal.”

After two hours, they were taken to Salem interrogation and detention center where they were interrogated separately. The interrogator “did not explain my rights like my right to remain silent and to be interrogated with a lawyer or family member present,” one of the boys recalled. Ehsan denied the accusation of throwing stones. Following the interrogation, Ehsan and Osama were transferred to Megiddo prison, inside Israel:

We arrived at Megiddo prison late at night and they took us to a room one-by-one, where a jailer from the Israel Prison Service strip searched me by ordering me to take off all my clothes. I was completely naked like the day I was born and I was very ashamed.                                                                  

Source : http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/adri-nieuwhof/half-israels-palestinian-child-prisoners-are-held-illegally-outside-west-bank