Human rights organizations and civil organizations call on the international community to condemn the crimes of the racist Israeli occupation against the children of Palestine

expand/ Ramallah: The racist Israeli occupation authorities continue to abuse Palestinian children without any respect for child protection treaties and child rights conventions, through various inhumane means which are killing, displacement, demolition of their families’ homes, intimidation, arrest and abuse during and after the arrest process.

Since the beginning of this year, the occupation authorities have arrested 750 Palestinian children, and in April last year, 119 cases of child arrests were recorded, while in October, the highest rate of child arrests was recorded, as many as 160 children were detained in Megiddo, Ofer and Damon prisons. Of them, about 4 children are administratively imprisoned, and 12 are children under 12 years old. They also keep the bodies of 12 child martyrs in cold storage, and prevent their families from burying them in a decent manner or even inspecting their bodies. prisoners are exposed to cruelty in torture, unfair trials and inhuman treatment that violates their fundamental rights and threatens their future with loss, thus violating the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, especially Article (16) which states that “no arbitrary or illegal exposure of a child it must not happen in his lifetime.” family, home or correspondence, nor any legal attack on his honor or reputation.” It also states that “the child has the right to be protected by law from such assault and battery.” The occupation does not take into account the young age of children when bringing them before a military court, nor does it form a special court for them (which is confirmed by instruments of international law). This is an explicit violation of the text of article no. (1) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which defines it as “every human being under the age of eighteen”.

In addition, the occupation government imposes the so-called house arrest, which prevents them from leaving their homes, and turns parents (especially mothers) into male and female guardians of their children, where children are monitored via a cardboard wristband, and parents are not allowed to transfer the child (subject under house arrest) to emergency treatment , except after the approval of the competent occupation authorities. Jerusalem children are also sometimes required to do community service (for Jewish settlers) as part of their punishment.

The abuse does not stop here, but the Israeli occupation authorities deny children the most basic rights recognized by international pacts that they deserve regardless of their religion, nationality and nationality, which are:

The right not to be subjected to arbitrary arrest.

The right to know the reason for the arrest.

The right to a lawyer.

The right of the family to know the reason and place of their child’s arrest.

The right to be brought before a judge immediately after arrest.

The right to object and challenge the charge.

The right to communicate with the outside world.

The right to humane treatment that preserves the dignity of the detained child.

The right to be accompanied by a family member during the investigation.

Moreover, Palestinian children imprisoned in apartheid Israeli occupation prisons suffer from harsh and inhumane conditions of detention that do not meet international standards for children’s rights. Unjustly detained children suffer from lack of and bad food, lack of hygiene, spread of insects, sleeping in rooms that do not have adequate ventilation or lighting, lack of health care, lack of clothing, lack of means of play, entertainment and leisure, lack of counselors and psychologists, and detention with to adults with criminal children (Israel), exposure to verbal abuse, beatings, isolation, sexual harassment, collective punishment and disease outbreaks.

Child prisoners are denied health care and appropriate medical treatment, and painkillers are most often the cure for various types of illnesses. According to the testimonies of children of prisoners, the prison administration refuses to transfer patients from them to prison clinics, and if they are transferred, they are subjected to beatings, insults and mistreatment, even by doctors and nurses. Likewise, there is no permanent doctor available in the prison clinic. The occupation still delays and sometimes refuses operations for children who need urgent operations, and this is contrary to international laws that explicitly stipulate the need for medical care for prisoners. Articles (91-92) of the Fourth Geneva Convention read: “Every prisoner must have a clinic.” ” An event under the supervision of a qualified doctor, and that the detainees receive free of charge the medical care they need, as well as the installation of any medical equipment necessary to maintain their health in good condition. Free medical examinations of prisoners must be carried out at least once a month, and their purpose is to monitor the health and psychological state, general diet and hygiene, and detect infectious diseases. The Israel Prisons Authority does not adhere to this.

And if we look at the unfairly and aggressively imposed sentences, we see that they are high, because there is one child who was sentenced to life imprisonment, and three children were sentenced to 15 years in prison, and four more children who were sentenced to between 5 and 9 years, and the verdict is often accompanied by a fine (400-2000 USD).

The racist Israeli occupation state is the only country in the world that tries children in military courts.

Based on the above, we, the undersigned organization, request:

First: the international community, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children, UNICEF and all relevant institutions, to put pressure on the racist Israeli occupation authorities and commit them to the implementation of international conventions on prisoners and detainees, especially child prisoners, and work on their release without restrictions and conditions.

Second: All international human rights organizations, especially those working in the field of children, such as UNICEF and DC, to launch an international campaign to shed light on the suffering of child prisoners in Israeli prisons and to work for their release.

Third: calls on the international community to include the racist Israeli occupation forces on the blacklist of countries that violate children’s rights.