Israel ill-treatment of Palestinian minors 'systematic': UN

[RFS_Br]

Israel ill-treatment of Palestinian minors 'systematic': UN

JERUSALEM — The ill-treatment of Palestinian minors held within the Israeli military detention system is "widespread, systematic and institutionalised," a report by UN children's fund found.

In the 22-page report entitled "Children in Israeli Military Detention," UNICEF said Israel was the only country in the world where children were "systematically tried" in military courts and gave evidence of practices it said were "cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment."

"Ill-treatment of Palestinian children in the Israeli military detention system appears to be widespread, systematic and institutionalised," it concluded, outlining 38 recommendations.

Over the past decade, Israeli forces have arrested, interrogated and prosecuted around 7,000 children between between 12 and 17, mostly boys, UNICEF found, noting the rate was equivalent to "an average of two children each day."

Figures from the end of January show that 233 children are currently being held in custody, 31 of them under the age of 16.

"Israel is the only place in the world where automatically, a child when he is under arrest, is put before a military tribunal," said Jean-Nicolas Beuze, UNICEF's regional adviser on child protection.

"It does exist in other countries (but only) as an exception," he told reporters. "A child is a civilian."

In response, Israel said it had provided UNICEF with material used in the report and pledged to work towards implement its conclusions.

"Israel will study the conclusions and will work to implement them through ongoing cooperation with UNICEF, whose work we value and respect," a foreign ministry statement said.

The vast majority of arrests are for throwing stones.

Although the maximum sentence for those aged 12-13 is six months, the penalty rises dramatically from 14 when a child can face a maximum penalty of between 10 and 20 years, it said.

The common experience of many children was being "aggressively awakened in the middle of the night by many armed soldiers and being forcibly brought to an interrogation centre tied and blindfolded, sleep deprived and in a state of extreme fear."

On the way to interrogation, some suffered physical or verbal abuse, were painfully restrained, with little access to water, food or access to a toilet.

UNICEF said it found no evidence of any detainees being "accompanied by a lawyer or family member during the interrogation" [How democratic! -- RFS] and they were "rarely informed of their rights."

"The interrogation mixes intimidation, threats and physical violence, with the clear purpose of forcing the child to confess," it said.

Most confess at the end of the interrogation, signing Hebrew forms which they hardly understand.
In most court hearings, the principal evidence against them was their own confession which was "in most cases extracted under duress."

The report noted some improvements, saying Israel had in 2010 brought in new rules on the use of hand ties and a year later raised the age of majority from 16 to 18, although the change does not relate to sentencing.

Last year, it reduced reduced pre-trial detention from eight days to four and next month, it will be further dropped to 24 hours for those aged 12-13, or 48 hours for those over 14.

Although the recommendations take into account "Israel?s legitimate security concerns," [Security concerns? against what? rock-throwing kids protesting illegal colonies on their lands? -- RFS] immediate measures are needed "to ensure that children ... are never subjected to treatments that breach" Israel's commitments under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the report said.

Children must "be informed of the reasons for their arrest at the time of arrest and in a language they understand" and their parents must be notified "as soon as possible."

Arrests should take place in daylight, and and "children should never be restrained during interrogation" in a cell or in court.

The use of plastic hand ties and the practice of blindfolding or hooding should be "prohibited in all circumstances" and there should be a complete ban on holding children in solitary.

Questioning should always be in the presence of a lawyer or family member, and signed confessions in Hebrew "should be rejected as evidence by the military courts."

 

[somebozo]

I think its time for the yearly donation drive to UNICEF. Surprise they never come out and post their concerns about 14 years old strapped with explosives and used as suicide bombers in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Israel!

Or state level indoctrination and abuse of children to prepare them as suicide bombers!

Child suicide bombers in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict


Palestinian children's TV show: Suicide bomber "has become a role model for any Palestinian girl who harbors the spirit of self-sacrifice, national sentiment, and love of death for the sake of Allah and in defense of the homeland" - Jihad Watch


Palestinians don't treat their children well, why would Israel be bothered to render the same on some potential suicide bombers?

 

[RFS_Br]

I have reported your comment; it is being off topic and full of bullshit.

First off, if Unicef was in need of funds, it would pander to Western countries, for it is they who are withholding funds to the organization since last year (or was it in 2011?), because group members voted to accept Palestine as a Unicef member. Arab or Muslim countries do no account for much of UNICEF's funds, be sure of that; Western countries do. The Western ability to mke the agency work uner its own biases thus far surpasses that of Arab/Muslim countries. So don't assume that, just because you don't like a report, the people behind it are being moved by shady interests. Perhaps because you yourself are very easily corruptible, you assume that of other persons, such as UNICEF's folks. But I think you're mistaken.

Surprise they never come out and post their concerns about 14 years old strapped with explosives and used as suicide bombers in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Israel!

Why don't you do your research before running your mouth? It's so simple. By googling the words "Taliban UNICEF suicide", I immediately found this newspiece, on a UNICEF statement about the Taliban's use of kids as fighters. You're not acquainted with UNICEF's work, it seems; you're only fishing 'likes' from the Zionist users by pandering to their biases; the tired BS about the anti-Israeliness of UN agencies is one of them. But would it hurt to do your research to come up with better propaganda?

Or state level indoctrination and abuse of children to prepare them as suicide bombers!

Or perhaps IDF soldiers and settler gangster, like these children will group up to be?

Palestinians don't treat their children well, why would Israel be bothered to render the same on some potential suicide bombers?

You know nothing about Palestinians, or about the way they rear their children. Bet they treat their kids better than South Asians, among whom sex abuse of kids is just rampant. Child suicide bombers -- I mean, real kids, not 17 year olds -- do not occur there. That you rely on Youtube for your claims is pretty much in line with your lame attempts to say that UNICEF has never said anything on Taliban abuse of children; you just' don't know what you're talking about.

But I would still like to call attention to the perverted logic you use. If, as you say, it is OK for Israel to abuse someone else's children because (according to your BS, at least) they have bad parents, then it must be OK for US drone strikes to, unintentionally or not, strike Pakistani or Afghani kids with their drones. Perhaps your kids, if you have any, would be interesting targets for NATO. After all, kids of their nationality used by the Taliban as suicide bombers! Not even their own people cares about them! Why should anyone else? Even their parents instigate them to kill themselves! NATO forced should just go there and kill them themselves. Just kill them! It must also be OK to rape someone else's children, if they have sexually abusive parents. After all, if the parents do the same, they can't complain when someone else does it, can they? Do you realize where I'm going? What sick logic your little head has just promoted? I'm not sure if you're this perverted, or if you're just nonsensically babbling BS because you want to defend Israel. Either way, you look disgusting.