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03 May 2011 By Stephen Lendman The Al-Zaytouna Centre for
Studies and Consultations is a Beirut, Lebanon-based
organization engaged in "strategic and futuristic
studies on the Arab and Muslim worlds, (highlighting)
the Palestinian issue." In spring 2010, it published a
Britain-Palestine All Party Parliamentary Group (BPAPPG)
study, including the widespread detention of
Palestinian children titled, "Under Occupation: A
Report on the West Bank," discussed below. Under military occupation,
Palestinian children are treated like adults. Each
year, about 700 are arrested, brutally interrogated,
and prosecuted in military courts, denying them
justice. Since 2000 alone, over 7,000 have
been brutalized. On January 31, 2011, 222 Palestinian
children were imprisoned, 34 aged 12 - 15. Some at
times are 10 or younger. At age 16, they're considered
adults in violation of international law. Israel, in fact, brazenly
repudiates children's rights and welfare, treating
them like adults, in violation of the UN Declaration
of the Rights of the Child, its Principle 1 saying: "Every child, without exception
whatsoever, shall be entitled to (fundamental human
and civil) rights, without distinction or
discrimination on account of race, colour, sex,
language, religion, political or other opinion,
national or social origin, property, birth or other
status, whether of himself or of his family." They're entitled to special
protections and opportunities to develop physically,
mentally, morally, spiritually, and socially in a
healthy normal way under conditions of freedom and
dignity - including their right to life, an adequate
standard of living, healthcare, education, leisure,
safety and peace, what Israel denied them for over
four decades. Instead, they're taken to
military detention centers, harshly interrogated for
days without access to lawyers or family members. In
fact, parents and siblings rarely know where they're
held or whether they're alive or dead. Moreover, they're mistreated,
beaten, terrorized, usually tortured, hooded, denied
food and water for prolonged periods as well as access
to toilets and washing facilities, exposed to extreme
heat and cold, painfully shackled, and deprived of
sleep for several days, often in the shabeh position.
It consists of hands and legs
bound to a small chair, at times from behind to a pipe
affixed to the wall, painfully slanted forward, hooded
with a filthy sack, and played loud music nonstop
through loudspeakers. NGOs like the Public Committee
Against Torture in Israel, Adalah and DCI-Palestine
report widespread abuse. In 2009, a sample of 100
sworn affidavits revealed: -- 69% of them were beaten,
kicked, slapped, or otherwise abused; -- 49% were threatened; -- 14% held in solitary
confinement; -- 12% threatened with sexual
assault, including rape; and -- 32% forced to sign confessions
in Hebrew most don't understand. As a result, from 2001 - 2010,
over 645 complaints were filed against Israeli
Security Agency (ISA) interrogators, citing
mistreatment and abuse. So far, no criminal
investigations resulted, even for the most extreme
cases. Based solely on soldiers'
testimonies and coerced confessions, children are
usually charged with stone-throwing, whether or not
true. To assure lesser sentences and fines, usually
two to six months confinement, 81% plead guilty.
Otherwise, they'll be remanded for extended periods,
tried and convicted in kangaroo proceedings, nearly
always siding against them. Mahmoud K's experience was
typical, a 15-year old boy from Bethlehem. He was
taken to court shackled hands and legs. Wrist
restraints were only removed during proceedings,
conducted in Hebrew (with translation by an Israeli
soldier). Intimidating security guards filled the
room. Mahmoud pleaded not guilty to
throwing a Molotov cocktail. He was detained four
months prior to trial. Two other arrested boys signed
confessions, naming him, retracted when they came to
court. Both said they were abused, threatened and
coerced to go along. The entire proceeding lasted an
hour. It hardly mattered as guilty as charged nearly
always follows. Heading to school, another
16-year old youth was arrested for not having his ID
card. Afterward, he was beaten, sent to Etzion
detention camp, handcuffed, blindfolded, and beaten
again brutally to get him to confess to stone-throwing
and reveal names of other children with him at the
time. During interrogation, his head
was immersed in cold water, then hot, then the toilet.
Later moved to Adorim camp, he was again beaten,
tortured, held in solitary confinement for 34 days,
then on "restrictive order" at Telmond Prison, in
violation of Article 37 of the Convention on the
Rights of the Child (CRC) stating: "No child shall be subjected to
torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment
or punishment.... No child shall be deprived of his
or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily.... Every child deprived of liberty
shall be treated with humanity and respect.... (and) Every child deprived of his or
her liberty shall have the right to prompt access to
legal and other appropriate assistance...." CRC also mandates detention as a
last resort for the shortest possible time. Israel
does it preemptively, repressively, and irresponsibly
to harass, abuse, inflict bodily and emotional harm,
torture or kill - legalized by authorities decades
ago, including harming children with: -- bad food and unsafe water; -- poor healthcare or lack of
it; -- bad sanitation and hygiene; -- insect infested cells; -- cramped and crowded
conditions; -- inadequate air and light; -- insufficient clothing,
blankets and other protections; -- no play or recreation; -- isolation from the outside
world; -- no family visits; -- the absence of counselors and
specialists; -- detention with adults, some
violent; -- solitary confinement; -- verbal, physical and sexual
abuse; and -- no education. Against adults and children
alike, including women and girls, nothing is too
brutal or extreme. For example, one 15-year old said
he was stripped naked, forced into an extremely
painful position, then burned by lit cigarettes to
make him confess. Others are tortured to
collaborate. A 10-year old said "They beat me on
various parts of my body with plastic hoses. I had to
have a surgical operation to have a platinum
transplant in my arm. They kept me naked for a whole
night, handcuffed and blindfolded; and I was not
allowed to go to the toilet for two days!" According to the Palestinian
Prisoners Club, 95% of children are tortured, 85% to
confess under duress and sign Hebrew documents they
can't read or understand. Israel brazenly violates
international law, including in how they treat young
children. In fact, harassing, intimidating,
threatening, cuffing, shackling, abusing, torturing
and denying due process breaches Fourth Geneva, the UN
Torture Convention, and UN Convention on the Rights of
the Child. They're inviolable legal
standards Israel doesn't give a damn about when it
comes to Palestinian Arabs. Why should they when
international community leaders raise no
accountability issues. In the Adalah Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel's March Newsletter, Mahd Bader, a human rights law attorney, headlined, "Secret Prison for UFOs," saying: Facility 1391 is Israel's Guantanamo. Officially it doesn't exist. Detainees aren't told where they're held. They're kept in darkened cells, brutally interrogated, and denied outside contact. On January 11, 2011, Israel's Supreme Court again "demonstrated its conservative nature with respect to human rights in general and the rights of weak population sectors in particular," effectively approving the facility's existence, its location still secret. In fact, Israel is prohibited from having secret detention facilities. Those existing should be closed or revealed. Instead, the Court performed a "balancing act (with) legal hair-splitting and zigzagging. (It) chose to take the complex, meandering and superfluous road of 'appropriate balance' and, after examining the clashing interests and rights," avoided respecting international and Israeli law. As a result, it ruled that detainee rights and their families are indeed violated. "However, the infringement is proportional....since the State has suggested an arrangement (to) minimize it." No details were published or consideration for how often authorities do what they please, freely violating Court decisions with impunity. Nonetheless, the State agreed "not to hold in this facility citizens of Israel or residents of the occupied territory unless high military officials order it. Moreover, those detained will only be for a short time. Even though the Military Judge Advocate General and Ministry of Justice supervise the facility, many questions and problems remain unanswered. Also consider "for whom is that unknown detention facility intended if the State" won't use it for Israeli Arabs or Palestinians? Why is it needed and kept secret? How short is "very short," and why does any court tolerate illegal practices? No satisfactory answers were provided. Given today's extremist Court and Knesset, especially regarding Muslims, offers more proof that "Israel is knowingly and surely sliding towards a dark and oppressive regime." Today Arabs are persecuted. Tomorrow others. Soon anyone resisting state authority, no matter how oppressive and lawless. Ahead, Bader sees what he calls a "Jewish phobiocraticstate," targeting anyone within or outside the law.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening. http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/. |
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