By “Isra Ghorani”
Following the last outburst in the Palestinian territories ,in reaction to Donald Trump’s declaration of “Al-Quds” as the capital of the Israeli occupation, the Israeli violations have increased against the Palestinians .It is remarkable that children are among the most exposed to the daily increasing violations by the Israeli occupation. These violations led to serious injuries among children. In addition, it is clear that the number of their arrest increased as well. Thus, the light was shed on the renewed violations against children and the infringement of international laws that stipulate children’s protection.
According to the statistics of the Palestinian Society Prisoners Club, the Israeli occupation authorities have arrested more than 150 children since the beginning of the recent events, while the total number of the arrested children reached 300, at the end of last November. Moreover, the data from the Defence for Children International of 2O17 shows that the number of apprehended children reached 331, at the end of May, i.e. an increase of 62% of the rate of jailed children between 2012 and 2015.
Among the children arrested by the Israeli occupation forces was” Ahd al-Tamimi”, a girl from the village of “Nabi Saleh”, Ramallah district, which is known for her positions against the Israeli soldiers who enter the village constantly.
In an interview with the Arab Trade Union Confederation, “Ahad’s father” says that she is currently in “Hasharon“prison in the north. She is arrested by The Israel Prison Service with the Israeli criminal prisoners department instead of the Palestinian women prisoners department. In addition, she will be subject to several trials and now, she is still under investigation
He also pointed out that the occupation authorities aim, through arresting “Ahd” with the criminal prisoners to put psychological pressure on her in order to have her confessions. In addition, to their explicit intention to create a new defeated generation by their brutal and repressive measures and practices against children.
For his part, “Ayed Qutish”, the official of the accountability program in the Defence for Children International, pointed out that the recent period has witnessed a rise in violations by the occupation against children, more specifically concerning the abuse, torture and violation of their right to life, especially after the declaration of the US President, Donald Trump, “Al-Quds” as the capital of the Israeli occupation.
As for the significant increase in the pace of arrests, “Qatish” spoke about the increasing number of children in an Israeli detention camp, which is”Ofer” detention camp near Ramallah, noting that 60 detainees of children were entering the detention monthly, while between 1-19 December 77 of the detainee children entered the detention. This is a proof for the increasing number of arrests against the Palestinian children.
“Qutish” talked about the most important violations against children after their arrest, affirming that there are series of violations for their rights, starting first from the moment of their arrest and then their interrogation. In fact, the children’s confessions are obtained under pressure, threats and intimidation. These confessions are used to convict them in the military courts of the Israeli occupation.
The increasing number of violations by the Israeli occupation against the children has reached the issue of children‘s increasing injuries during confrontations with the occupation forces, where rubber bullets are used frequently towards them and deliberately towards the upper parts of their body. As a result, many children lost their eyes, in addition to the use of these rubber bullets from zero distance leading to serious damages in their bodies, which affects all aspects of their lives in the future.
One of the casualties documented by the Defence for Children International, during these recent events: “Mohammed al-Farani”(14-year-old )from Gaza Strip lost his right eye by a tear gas canister that was thrown directly in his face on December 11, during his participation in a march condemning Trump’s declaration at “Beit Hanoun” crossing.
“Mohammed Fadl al-Tamimi “(15 years old) from Ramallah governorate was seriously wounded by a rubber-coated metal bullet in the left side of his face. It was placed in his cranium on October 15. Moreover, the Egyptian child named “Hamed ”(15years old, from “Salfit” was shot by the Israeli occupation forces near the settlement of Ariel, causing the loss of his left eye.
The Israeli occupation forces claimed that the Egyptian child tried to carry out a stabbing and then refrained from doing so. They affirmed that the soldiers suspected him only because he had entered his hand in his pocket. As a result, they fired at him on December 12.
In addition, the Defence for Children International has documented the killing of 11 children by the occupation forces, since the beginning of the current year 2017 and until July.
“Qutish” pointed out that the Israeli occupation is violating many international conventions and laws, through these practices, of which the most important one is the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Children‘s rights are usually interrelated, meaning that any violation of one of the rights affects the other rights. The CRC stipulates clearly that children‘s arrest should be the last solution to resort, within a specified period of time and under certain circumstances. Moreover, it states that countries should seek other alternatives rather than detention. In addition, torture against detained children is absolutely prohibited in all international conventions, whether against children or adults.
Although Israel is a member State in the CRC, it keeps violating this agreement increasingly», added “Qutish”
“Qutish “said t about the possibility of criminalization and condemning the Israeli occupation because of targeting children that the other member States in the international conventions are supposed to exert pressure and sanctions on countries that broke any of its provisions in order to force them to be committed.
He stressed that the issue of Israeli violations against children is not a new subject and these violations have existed since the existence of the Israeli occupation. However, it does escalate sometimes, and all the children who have been arrested are subjected to repressive violations .
“Qatish” discussed also the impact of violations on children, pointing out that these violations, whether psychological or physical, have far-reaching and near-term effects on children after being released from prison. Moreover, all children, who went through interrogation and torture, suffer from great psychological problems.
“Issam Aarouri” from “Al-Quds”Legal Aid Center noted that the escalation of violations of the Israeli occupation against children has been observed for years. 2015 witnessed a remarkable outburst against the Israeli occupation, in reaction to the escalation of all forms of violations against children.
He added that there are many forms of violations against children, including the policy of arrests, their injuries and direct targeting, which leads to their martyrdom in many cases.
“Al-Aarouri “pointed out about the issue of arrests, that the Israeli occupation enact many laws and fabricate arguments that would justify their arrest of large numbers of children. Recently, many arrests were carried out under the pretext of incitement via Facebook and social networks.
He dealt with many of the indicators and serious procedures followed by the occupation that criminalize children and justify the violations of their rights. Moreover, he worked on making legal amendments by redefining the conception of “child” by law that applies to Palestinians, as any person, who is under the age of 12. This means that the occupation authorities hold criminal responsibility for 12-year-olds and can be prosecuted.
For his part, “Salah Musa”, an expert in international law, pointed out that the practices of the occupation against children recently indicate a serious decline and a flagrant violation of international law and the basic important rights that it has guaranteed ,among which the right to life. In many frictions, snipers directly shoot on children. It cannot be justified by just claiming that these shots were made by mistake as obviously, the sniper usually identifies the target and ascertain it before firing, which means that there is a systematic targeting of children.
He also noted that there is an excessive use of power in the repression of children during confrontations, and it is not justified to shoot directly at the upper parts of the children’s bodies against a child‘s throw of a stone, declared “Musa3.
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