[Pnews] Israeli army increases detentions of Palestinian children by 80%

[Prisoner News]

  The Euro-Mid: Israeli army increases detentions of Palestinian
  children by 80%

    * 2014-03-17
      http://euromid.org/en/article/505


A report issued on March 17^th  by the Euro-Mid Observer for Human 
Rights points out that  the Israeli forces have detained 740 Palestinian 
children during the first two months of 2014, 465 of them remained in 
custody for at least one week.

The Euro-Mid Observer, an independent human rights organization based in 
Geneva, states that approximately 200 Palestinian minors were detained 
monthly on average by the Israeli forces during 2013, and 197 on average 
during 2012, according to data published by Defense for Children 
International (DCI) and Israel Prison Service.

The first month of 2014 witnessed the detention of 350 Palestinian 
children; some of them were released within hours of their capture, 
while 220 others were held for one week or more. However, in February 
2014, 390 children were arrested,  of whom 245 were kept under custody 
up to one week or more. This indicates an increase in the number of 
detained Palestinian children by 80% during the first two months of 
  2014 in comparison with monthly average of detentions during 2013.

Euro-Mid's report  notes that after following up the cases of the 
detained Palestinian children, it was apparent that most charges held 
against them were linked to throwing stones at Israeli patrols roaming 
around in Palestinian cities, or taking part in a peaceful demonstration 
condemning Israel's separation wall, or for shouting slogans, writings 
statements or paintings glorifying Palestine and rejecting the 
occupation.  Such acts, the report confirms, are not deemed as crimes in 
international law and do not require the detention of a child as punishment.

According to the Israeli Military Order 1651, Palestinian child 
prisoners may be sentenced in military courts from the age of twelve, 
which violates both international and Israeli juvenile law.

The Israeli Military Order 1651 establishes a minimum age of criminal 
responsibility at 12 years, and sets out the maximum penalties that can 
be imposed on children in various age categories for a number of listed 
offences. The most common offence that children are charged with in the 
military courts is for stone throwing.

Euro-Mid draws  the attention to the fact that most cases of detention 
against Palestinian child prisoners are carried out after midnight, and 
are accompanied by repressive police actions frightening children and 
their families without  acute or security necessity. Moreover, the 
children's parents are not allowed to accompany their  children and are 
not told where they are taken to. Most children, meanwhile, are denied 
from their right to immediate legal assistance  as Israeli authorities 
often starts investigations right after the detention of the child 
without  the presence of a lawyer. No child should be interrogated in 
the absence of a lawyer of choice and family member. Additionally, the 
majority of those children are faced by solitary confinement, a practice 
with severe negative psychological impacts on the children.

A number of children told Euro-Mid following their release that during 
their interrogation by the Israeli forces, they were subjected to 
psychological pressure, scolding,  deprivation of sleep, denial of 
access to toilets, and beating; different forms of torture and "harm, 
abuse, and violence" prohibited under the provisions of article (19/1) 
of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The report stressed that such escalation in detentions against 
Palestinian children without any legal basis is at odds with article 37 
  of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states that : (a) 
No child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or 
degrading treatment or punishment; (b) No child shall be deprived of his 
or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily. The arrest, detention or 
imprisonment of a child shall be in conformity with the law and shall be 
used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate 
period of time".

" The report, more importantly, made clear that the detention of 
Palestinian children mounts to "a stark violation of their right to 
their freedom of expression."

Mira Bushara, a researcher at Euro-Mid's legal department, said "Israel 
is totally indifferent to the Convention on the Rights of the Child when 
it comes to Palestinian children" pointing at the incident of Wadea 
Muswada, a 5 years old Palestinian child from Hebron detained in June 
2013 on the charge of "throwing stones".

Bushara said incidents documented in the film "Children in Chains" by 
British director Jonathan Pullman, "shows us that what Israel is 
practicing against the rights of Palestinian children represents a 
methodology that applies to all Palestinian cities and are not mere 
individual incidents that happen here and there, especially when nearly 
190 Palestinian children under the age of 8 are held in Israeli prisons 
until this moment".

-- 
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 
863.9977 www.freedomarchives.org
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