PRESS RELEASE
UN Special Committee* on Israeli Practices in the Occupied Territories
20/07/2012
UN Special Committee* on Israeli Practices in the Occupied Territories
20/07/2012
July 20, 2012
CAIRO / GENEVA (20 July 2012) – The UN Special Committee* on Israeli Practices in the Occupied Territories expressed serious concern about the treatment of Palestinian children in detention by Israeli security forces, and warned that a pattern of detaining and mistreating children “links to broader, longstanding concerns regarding Israel detention of Palestinians generally.”
“Witnesses informed the Committee that mistreatment of Palestinian children starts from the moment of detention,” said Ambassador Palitha T.B. Kohona, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN in New York, and Chairperson of the Committee, at the end of a fact-finding visit to Amman, Cairo and the Gaza Strip.
“Large numbers are routinely detained. Children’s homes are surrounded by Israeli soldiers late at night, sound grenades are fired into the houses, doors are broken down, live shots are often fired; no warrant is presented,” he noted. “Children are tightly bound, blindfolded and forced into the backs of military vehicles.”
Ambassador Kohona explained that parents are not allowed to accompany the detainees, and that family members are insulted, intimidated and at times physically assaulted. According to witnesses, the detention and transfer of children can last for hours, and can often include stops in Israeli settlements, Israeli checkpoints and police or military bases.
“Children are not informed of their rights, including their right to legal representation and to not incriminate themselves,” he warned. In 63% of cases involving Palestinian children, according to testimony received, Israeli officials attempt to pressure them into becoming informants. “The Committee’s view is that this is an unacceptable practice, one that Israel must end immediately.”
“Reports of the interrogation of Palestinian children are of utmost concern to the Committee, as well as conditions of detention generally,” Ambassador Kohona stressed. “Palestinian children in detention are often denied family visits, denied access to legal representation, held in cells with adults, denied access to education, and -even at the age of 12- tried in Israeli military courts.”
“We were dismayed to hear that Israel continues its practice of sentencing children to prison, or to house arrest in homes other than their own families, in effect exiling them from their families,” he said. The Committee was informed by witnesses that there were 192 children in detention, 39 were under the age of 16.
The Committee was also shocked to learn that Israel puts Palestinian children in solitary confinement. “According to testimony received, Israel uses solitary confinement against 12% of Palestinian child detainees,” Ambassador Kohona noted. “This is especially troubling when one considers that Israel arrests about 500 to 700 Palestinian children every year.”
In its preliminary observations, the UN Special Committee drew attention to two further areas of immediate concern in the West bank, including East Jerusalem: the Israeli practice of demolishing Palestinian homes, and violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians. The experts also assessed the economic impact of the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip.
“These Israeli practices lead the Special Committee to one over-arching and deeply troubling conclusion,” Ambassador Kohona underscored. “The mass imprisonment of Palestinians; the routine demolition of homes and the displacement of Palestinians; the widespread violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians; and the blockade and resultant reliance on illegal smuggling to survive; these practices amount to a strategy to either force the Palestinian people off their land or so severely marginalize them as to establish and maintain a system of permanent oppression.”
The Special Committee will present a mission report to the UN General Assembly next November, with its observations and recommendations to improve the human rights situation for those whose lives are affected by occupation.
(*) The Special Committee is composed of three Member States: Sri Lanka (Chairman), Malaysia and Senegal. This year the Member States are represented by: Ambassador Palitha T.B. Kohona, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN in New York; Ambassador Dato Hussein Hannif, Permanent Representative of Malaysia to the UN in New York; and Ambassador Fodé Seck, Minister Counsellor of the Permanent Mission of Senegal to the UN in Geneva.
FULL END OF MISSION STATEMENT
Cairo, 19 July 2012
Media Statement
United Nations General Assembly’s Special Committee on Israeli Practices
(Delivered by Ambassador Palitha T.B. Kohona, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN in New York, and Chairperson of the Committee)
Ladies and gentlemen, good morning,
I make this statement in my capacity as chair of the General Assembly’s Special Committee to investigate Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the territories occupied since 1967.
This statement comes at the conclusion of the Committee’s annual field mission, which included meetings in Amman, Cairo, and the Gaza Strip. It contains the Committee’s initial observations based on these meetings. The Committee will report to the General Assembly next November. This report will present our full assessment of current Israeli practices of most concern to the human rights of Palestinians and other Arabs of the territories occupied since 1967, as well as recommendations to address these concerns.
Let me start off by highlighting the Committee’s most urgent concern. The Committee received extensive testimony concerning Israel’s treatment of Palestinian children in detention. And much of this testimony was alarming.
Witnesses informed the Committee that mistreatment of Palestinian children starts from the moment of detention. Large numbers are routinely detained. Children’s homes are surrounded by Israeli soldiers late at night, sound grenades are fired into the houses, doors are broken down, live shots are often fired – no warrant is presented. Children are tightly bound, blindfolded and forced into the backs of military vehicles. Parents are not allowed to accompany them. Instead, family members are insulted, intimidated and at times physically assaulted. Many children report being held on the floor of the vehicle and being kicked and verbally assaulted. According to witnesses, the detention and transfer of children can last for hours, and can often include stops in Israeli settlements, Israeli checkpoints and police or military bases. One witness recounted the case of two Palestinian minors being taken to the Binyamin settlement, being stripped fully naked and handcuffed to toilets, and being urinated on by Israeli soldiers and settlers.
Yet this is only the beginning for Palestinian children detained by Israel. Children are not informed of their rights, including their right to legal representation and to not incriminate themselves. On the contrary, witnesses testified that Palestinian children are regularly told that if they confess they will be able to go home sooner. They are then given documents to sign in Hebrew, a language they cannot understand, and often forced under duress to sign. In 63% of cases involving Palestinian children, according to testimony received, Israeli officials attempt to pressure them into becoming informants. The Committee’s view is that this is an unacceptable practice, one that Israel must end immediately.
Reports of the interrogation of Palestinian children are of utmost concern to the Committee, as well as conditions of detention generally. One appalling example was the case of a Palestinian child taken to the Ariel settlement, being beaten and thrown against a wall, and told that if he did not sign a confession in Hebrew, the soldiers would iron his skin. Witnesses reported that Palestinian children in detention are often denied family visits, denied access to legal representation, held in cells with adults, denied access to education, and – even at the age of 12 – tried in Israeli military courts. We were dismayed to hear that Israel continues its practice of sentencing children to prison, or to house arrest in homes other than their own families, in effect exiling them from their families. The Committee was informed by witnesses that there were 192 children in detention, 39 were under the age of 16.
The Committee was shocked to learn that Israel puts Palestinian children in solitary confinement. But, according to testimony received, Israel uses solitary confinement against 12% of Palestinian children detainees. This is especially troubling when one considers that Israel arrests about 500 to 700 Palestinian children every year.
This pattern of detaining and mistreating children links to broader, longstanding concerns regarding Israel’s detention of Palestinians generally. The Committee was informed that, while numbers change daily, Israel currently detains 4,484 Palestinians. The Committee was briefed on unacceptable prison conditions, various forms of ill-treatment – in some cases amounting to torture, widespread use of solitary confinement, pervasive medical neglect, and the allegation of the use of medical testing on prisoners.
The Committee wishes to focus international attention on Israel’s frequent use of administrative detention. Israel’s practice of administrative detention was alleged to be a policy of widespread and systematic arbitrary detention. We were informed that Israel currently holds 310 persons under this policy, including 6 young girls and at least 21 Palestinian parliamentarians.
During our visit to Gaza, the Committee was able to meet with Mahmoud Sarsak. Mahmoud, a member of the Palestinian national football team, was recently released by Israel following a three month hunger strike in protest against his administrative detention. Mahmoud’s case illustrates the experience of the thousands of Palestinians who Israel has administratively (arbitrarily) detained during its occupation. Mahmoud was arrested at a checkpoint, despite the fact that he had all the required papers. He was roughly handled and not informed of any charges. He was not allowed access to a lawyer or his family. He could not contest his detention through any judicial process. He was given no access to any information or evidence against him. Instead he was told that he was a security threat and, on this basis, his administrative detention order was repeatedly renewed for almost three years.
Three years in jail. No charges, no trial, no rights. Israel must end its policy and practice of arbitrary administrative detention of Palestinians.
The Committee wishes to also draw attention to two further areas of immediate concern in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Before doing so, it is fundamental to recall that Israel is the occupying power, and under international law Israel’s practices in the occupied territories must not be to the detriment of the local population.
It is within this legal framework that Israel’s practice of demolishing Palestinian homes is of deep concern to the Committee. Demolitions have increased disturbingly over the past three years, with 330 homes and other structures already demolished in 2012. According to testimony received, Israel has demolished over 26,000 Palestinian structures since 1967. And demolitions of homes equal forced displacement of persons. The Committee was informed that over 500 Palestinians, more than half of them children, have already been displaced in 2012. We were also informed about the planning and zoning regime that Israel applies in the West Bank. This regime serves as the basis for Israel’s demolition of Palestinian structures. Rather than benefiting Palestinians, it blatantly discriminates against them.
Again this year the Committee received terrifying accounts of violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians. The testimony we received included video evidence of Israeli settlers shooting at un-armed Palestinians. Such videos clearly showed Israeli soldiers either observing such events or intervening to arrest Palestinians.
The Committee was informed of at least 154 incidents of settler violence resulting in injuries or damage to property or land between 1 January and 26 June 2012. This constitutes an increase of 237% compared to 2009, and 116% compared to 2010. And such violence has seriously detrimental impacts on Palestinian livelihoods. At least 7,500 Palestinian trees were destroyed and almost 10,000 trees damaged by Israeli settlers in 2011. This amounts to the loss of millions of dollars of income for Palestinian farmers.
However, Israeli settlers carry on with their violent attacks with near total impunity. One Israeli non-governmental organisation monitored 642 cases of reported settler violence since 2005, and 90% of these cases were closed with the excuse of a lack of evidence. Indictments were filed in only 9% of these cases. Another Israeli non-governmental organisation monitored 352 cases of reported violence and indictments were filed in only 8% of these cases. We would note that many cases go un-reported by Palestinians, out of fear of retribution.
It was suggested that the Government of Israel implicitly encourages violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians. Its practice appears to be simply to turn its head the other way. In this regard, several witnesses noted that many Israeli Government officials and military live in the settlements. In their view there is no difference between the settlers and the Government.
The Special Committee was able to visit the Gaza Strip for the second time since it was established in 1968. We had the opportunity to travel around Gaza to observe the actual situation on the ground, and meet directly with witnesses and victims affected by Israel’s blockade. The blockade continues to have a devastating impact on the people of Gaza.
We met with fishermen who have had their livelihoods ruined by Israel’s enforcement of a less than 3 nautical mile limit on Palestinian boats, in flagrant disregard of the Oslo Accords. The fishermen used to bring in 4,000 tons a year. Now they bring in around 1,400. Fishermen, even within this arbitrary 3 mile limit, are subject to arrest, abuse and deprivation of their equipment. We met with farmers who have had their farms and agricultural equipment destroyed by Israeli bulldozers in the buffer zone. The farmers complained that the Israeli-declared security zone in effect expropriates 35% of Gaza’s agricultural land. Again, their livelihoods have been devastated. Both groups shared stories of humiliating, brutal and sometimes deadly treatment at the hands of Israeli soldiers enforcing the blockade.
Businessmen in Gaza provided us with detailed information regarding the impact of Israel’s blockade on the economy. They noted that imports remain less than 50% of pre-blockade levels. And they stressed the urgent need for imports of raw materials, especially to meet the demand for the approximately 40,000 apartments needed for homes, since thousands of Palestinians had their homes destroyed during operation Cast Lead and remain displaced. Furthermore, children in Gaza need more schools built urgently. 85% of schools in Gaza work on double shifts, thereby severely curtailing their right to education.
One of the most frequent complaints we received in Gaza concerned the lack of employment. The people of Gaza desperately want work. But Israel’s near total ban on exports stifles economic growth and makes job opportunities scarce. As a result between 30 and 40% of Gazans are unemployed.
The principal result of Israel’s blockade has been to make 80% of Palestinians in Gaza dependent on international humanitarian aid. We observed the distribution of such aid. And we had to admire the resilience of Gazans for being able to survive on so little, especially in the face of the inadequate healthcare, frequent power outages, and not infrequent incidents of violence that mark their daily lives.
It needs to be stated that the Committee considers that Israel’s blockade of Gaza is illegal. It amounts to the collective punishment of 1.6 million Palestinians. And the international community must bring pressure to bear on Israel until it is fully lifted.
These Israeli practices lead the Special Committee to one over-arching and deeply troubling conclusion. The mass imprisonment of Palestinians; the routine demolition of homes and the displacement of Palestinians; the widespread violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians; and the blockade and resultant reliance on illegal smuggling to survive – these practices amount to a strategy to either force the Palestinian people off their land or so severely marginalize them as to establish and maintain a system of permanent oppression.
It is not a coincidence that Israel applies two different planning and zoning regimes in the West Bank, a favourable one for Israeli settlers and a prohibitive one for Palestinians. Israelis want to block Palestinian development and expand their settlements.
It is not by chance that the majority of demolitions of Palestinian structures occur near Israeli settlements. Israeli settlers want to expropriate land and expand their settlements.
These Israeli practices are systematic. They are aimed at moving Palestinians off their land. And working together they increasingly discredit Israel’s claim of a commitment to “two States living side by side in peace and security.”
This concludes our statement. We will be pleased to receive your questions.
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ENDS
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