Child prisoners: an appeal to conscience

Open Letter to the Israeli Ambassador:

Dear Ambassador,

Please read the evidence (presented below by the Christian Peacemaker Teams) of Israel's treatment of Palestinian children. This news is being circulated world-wide. Ordinary people who find such behaviour shocking and indefensible will be interested to read whatever response you may care to make in this regard.

Yours faithfully

Leslie Bravery

Palestine Human Rights Campaign www.palestine.org.nz

Occupied Childhood:

Mass arrest of 27 children shows the increasing impact of occupation on Hebron's children

An Appeal from Christian Peacemaker Teams in Palestine:

On the morning of March 20 soldiers arrested 27 Palestinian children, aged seven to 15 in the West Bank city of Hebron. The children were on their way to five schools near the Old City when 22 soldiers moved into a group of students outside the Hebron Public Elementary School.

The Principal was standing in front of the gate to his school at 7:30am when soldiers came out of an alley and began taking students. The street was full of children on their way to several nearby schools as well as the Hebron Elementary School. Several adults arrived and tried to prevent the arrests but soldiers pulled the children away.

The children said that the soldiers were violent as they forced them into the Jeeps and some of the students were injured. The soldiers drove them to a nearby police station. Two children were released there. The remaining students were held in the police station for six-and-a-half hours with no access to parents, guardians or teachers. An adult who was detained at the same time reported that they were blindfolded and handcuffed, and many were crying. Teachers came to the police station but were not allowed in. Soldiers told them that they were checking the children against photographs and would release those whose photos they did not have. At about 2pm soldiers released eight of the youngest children. The remaining students were transported to military stations and interrogated many times throughout the day. Most were released late that night. Three children, one aged 13 and two aged 15, were taken to Ofer military prison. The children were being held until March 28, with the families having to pay the Court 2000 shekels each.

Approximately 700 Palestinian children are arrested, interrogated and detained by the Israeli army, police and security agents each year. In the past ten years approximately 7000 children have been detained, interrogated, prosecuted and/or imprisoned. This is an average of two children each day. Israel currently detains 195 Palestinian children, 93 of them in Ofer prison.

These incidents are clear violations of international law

The recently released UNICEF report cites the following common violations of children's rights by Israeli soldiers: Parents or legal guardians should be informed of the arrest of children within the shortest possible time thereafter, in a language understood by the child and the parents or legal guardians. All children should be free from compulsory self-incrimination, which includes the right to silence. ‘Compulsory’ should be interpreted broadly and not limited to physical force. The age of the child and the length of the interrogation, the child’s lack of understanding and the fear of unknown consequences may all lead a child to give a confession that is not true. There must be independent scrutiny of the methods of interrogation of children. This should include the presence of a lawyer and relative or legal guardian and audio-visual recording of all interrogations involving children. Children should not be held in custody with adults.

March 15:

Soldiers arrest and detain two boys, aged 9 and 11

Soldiers detained one adult man and two boys, aged 9 and 11 near checkpoint 56. The soldiers handcuffed both boys with plastic zip cuffs, and handcuffed and blindfolded the man. They then held all three inside the closed checkpoint cabin (a metal building approximately 6 ft x 16 ft) for one-and-a-half hours. Several soldiers remained inside the closed space with the children. During this time soldiers outside the cabin denied access to internationals. After one-and-a-half hours the soldiers placed all three detainees in a military Jeep and took them to the police station.

March 21:

Soldiers detain 8-year-old boy near school

On the morning of March 21 at about 10am soldiers detained an eight-year-old boy who was playing on a scooter. The boy had left the Old City through the Mosque checkpoint, and was passing by the Ibrahimi Boys' School on his way to the Qitoun checkpoint when soldiers detained him. Several adults stopped and teachers came out of the Ibrahimi School. The soldiers released the boy after about 15 minutes.

ENDS

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