There is a “spiral of injustice” and breaches of international law in Israel’s treatment of child detainees in military custody, according to an independent report by a delegation of British lawyers backed by the British Foreign Office.
The report found that “undisputed facts” indicated at least six violations of the UN convention on the rights of the child, to which Israel is a signatory. It also found Israel to be violating the fourth Geneva convention by transferring child detainees from the West Bank to Israeli prisons.
Between 500 and 700 Palestinian children are arrested by Israeli soldiers each year, mostly accused of throwing stones at Israeli Defense Forces who are armed to the teeth and occupying their land.
“Fifty percent of the children were interrogated without their parents or a lawyer present and many were threatened and assaulted,” Gerard Horton, a lawyer from the rights group Defense International for Children, told Mel Frykberg of Inter Press Service.
“Many of the children were screamed at, slapped and shoved, sometimes kicked and punched, during questioning and coerced into making statements of disputable accuracy. Some were threatened with further violence,” said Horton.
“These kids had been taken from their homes in the middle of the night, many handcuffed and blindfolded,” Horton said. “They were then interrogated hours later and by this time they were traumatized and disoriented, and not able to withstand the pressure.”
Under international law, states are prohibited from discriminating in the exercise of justice on the basis of race or nationality. But, the report says, “there are major differentials between the law governing the treatment of Palestinian children and the law governing treatment of Israeli children”.
“The most egregious,” reports the Guardian, “are the length of time child detainees can be held a) before being brought before a judge (up to 24 hours for Israeli children compared with eight days for Palestinian children); b) without access to a lawyer (48 hours compared with 90 days); and c) without charge (40 days compared with 188 days). The minimum age for custodial sentences is 14 for Israeli children, but 12 for Palestinian children.”
The report concluded: “It may be that much of the reluctance to treat Palestinian children in conformity with international norms stems from a belief, which was advanced to us by a military prosecutor, that every Palestinian child is a ‘potential terrorist’. Such a stance seems to us to be the starting point of a spiral of injustice.”
Wonderful. I can't wait to read the report these fine international law specialists have written (unlikely) or will write (even more unlikely) about the way China treats Tibetan children in illegally occupied Tibet, Turkey treats Kurdish children and, more importantly, children in illegally occupied North Cyprus, and how Morocco treats children in the illegally occupied Western Sahara. What's that I hear? There is no mistreatment of children in these illegally occupied territories? Really? How many investigative missions have these dignified lawyers conducted in these areas? Oh, and I almost forgot, how about the treatment of children in Syria (currently, you'll be interested to know, they are being slaughtered). The same goes for Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and most other Muslim countries. Do I smell the fetid odor of a double standard here? Not surprisingly, John Glaser doesn't seem to be concerned by the fate of other youths in other parts of the world where they are treated in far worse fashion. No, only Palestinian youths are worthy of his generous attention. Not exactly what I would call impressive.
"But mom… everyone is doing it"
"I hear non-stop about Sudan. I hear non-stop about Tibet. I hear non-stop about Darfur. I hear alot. The only place I hear excuses made for is Israel." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcWIaYJGlOQ
One can also infer that the lobby's response to exposure is defamation when it could conceivably work and repudiation otherwise. Within my lifetime, it was also pretty apparent Israel is also where that catchy brand name for 'witch' ('terrorist') came from. It's an excellent point of focus.
So I can abuse you children and you will be OK because the Chinese do it?
stop changing the subject. this report relates to israeli practices.
Israel in Breach of International Law almost at any issue involving Palestine people…."Axis of Evil on this planet" and partners in crime, Internacional Zionism visibly represented by US/Israel represents for for Whole planet DANGER , mankind may not be able defeat without "blood of milions"….
So called internacional principals are being interduced by "real terrorists in this world" to serve their "GREED" agenda to enslave whole planet….Its road to selfdestruction. Monsterous selfapointed regime / with arsenal of WMD and fanatical visions/ in Palestine, represented as "Israels democracy", is really "visible" last warning for Humanity how disregarding basic MORAL PRINCIPALS TOGHETER WITH FANATISM can lead…
"Internacional principals" cannot be represented by those having the biggest arsenals of weapons for mass killing ignoring MORAL PINCIPALS given and preserved for people in religious texts.
Gandhi left people with "weapon" against these monsters – no violence, simply stop cooperating and supporting monsters and they will collapse….peter czech
Israel is in breach of international law by the mare fact of its existence.
JJ is using a strawman argument; it's done, illegally, elsewhere, so, that makes it fine for Israel to do the same. He/she is also pulling names out of a hat and making unsupported statements. Kids, for example, in Northern Cyprus are treated just fine, and, I rather suspect that children. in the other named countries are not definitively discriminated against.
It would seem that JJ is ignoring the fact that Israel does, illegally, discriminate against Palestinian children, yet, not a word from JJ about that discrimination, just a moan that most moral Israel is being picked out.
Wrong is wrong, regardless of where it is done
If you disagreed with the findings of this report you would have written to refute them here, so you therefore must think the report is credible. Instead, the only argument you offer is a variant of "But Daddy, the other kids did it too, why are you only picking on me?" That's sad.
Come on, the kiddies heart the IDF!
They like to show the nice soldiers, who are only there to protect them, where the bad guys are and lead the way into places where they're hiding out.
And they really love going for a ride on the hood of Army jeeps. The handcuffs are just to stop them falling off, nu?
But most of all they like to show off their lunch boxes and the backpacks the UN gives them for FREE. And they all love being frisked,, for they're all horney for jewish man meat.
That they get jailed, or killed is only because their parents like to take them to a war.
Little Schlomi – out by the dumpster at the Hooters.
All Palestinians should leave to other neighboring countries
let "Israel" have the rest of the land
then take them out and start over.