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<h1 class="article-title">DCI: “UN Shields Israel From
Accountability For Atrocities Against Children”</h1>
<div class="article-subtitledetails">
<span class="article-details">
<span class="article-detail"><img class="icon"
src="cid:part1.04010900.00080903@freedomarchives.org"
alt="author"> Tuesday June 09, 2015 14:11</span><span
class="article-detail"><img class="icon"
src="cid:part2.08060802.06060004@freedomarchives.org"
alt="author"> by IMEMC News</span></span> <br>
<b><small><small><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.imemc.org/article/71871">http://www.imemc.org/article/71871</a></small></small></b><br>
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<blockquote class="article-intro">Defense for Children International
– Palestine Branch (DCIP), issued a statement expressing deep
concern regarding the decision of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon
to exclude the Israeli army from the UN annual list of groups that
commit serious violations against children. </blockquote>
<p class="article">DCI said that the UN leader annually submits to
the UN Security Council a report on children and armed conflicts.
<br>
<br>
The report includes what is referred to as “the list of shame”
documenting violations by armed forces and groups. The list
included serious Israeli violations that led to killing and
maiming children in the Gaza Strip, in addition to Israel’s
bombardment of thousands of civilian structures. <br>
<br>
“By removing Israel’s armed forces from the ‘list of shame’,
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has provided tacit approval for
Israeli forces to continue carrying out grave violations against
children with impunity,” Khaled Quzmar, DCIP’s general director.
“It is deplorable that a proven and strong evidence-based
accountability tool to protect children during armed conflicts has
been significantly undermined in an effort to shield Israel from
accountability.”<br>
<br>
The UN Secretary General annual report, released Monday, said that
577 Palestinian children were killed in 2014, the third highest
after Afghanistan, where 710 children were killed, and Iraq 967
children, while the number of children killed in Syria is 368.<br>
<br>
DCI said the Israeli forces damaged or destroyed 543 schools in
2014, which is the highest record of all other conflicts, in 2014.
<br>
<br>
Last week, DCI and Human Rights Watch sent a letter to Ban Ki-Moon
urging him to resist all political pressures aiming at excluding
the Israeli military from the list of shame, explaining that “they
led evidence-based advocacy effort to ensure including Israel in
the list for killing and maiming thousands of children, and
bombarding schools, including UNRWA-run school, in the Gaza Strip.
<br>
<br>
They called on the UN leader to “apply consistent criteria when
determining which parties to list, including all armed forces and
non-state armed groups where there is credible evidence of a
pattern of violations.”<br>
<br>
Full DCI Report: <br>
UN shields Israel from accountability for atrocities against
children<br>
<a
href="http://www.dci-palestine.org/un_shields_israel_from_accountability_for_atrocities_against_children"
title="http://www.dci-palestine.org/un_shields_israel_from_accountability_for_atrocities_against_children">http://www.dci-palestine.org/un_shields_israel_from_acc...ldren</a>
</p>
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