Suffer little Palestinian children in Israeli prisons

who visited South Africa recently.

On March 12, Wahdan wrote a letter to UN Secretary-general Antonio Guterres asking for an investigation into the violations of children’s rights in Palestine.

The letter notes that the UN Children’s Fund, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, B’tselem, Human Rights Watch and Defence for Children International have found that Palestinian children were frequently held for extended periods without access to attorneys or their parents, and detained, interrogated, abused or ill-treated by Israeli military forces.

This is in violation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which explicitly prohibits the separation of a child from his/ her parents.

While the Israeli military argues that it needs to use extraordinary measures in the name of national security, they are flouting all international norms and standards.

Under international law, a minor is considered a child under the age of 18, although in Israel a minor is considered a child under 15.

In 2015, a new law was passed in the Israeli Knesset allowing the police and military to arrest children as young as 12. These children are not dealt with in special children’s courts, but in the same courts as adults, which are usually military courts.

The case of Ahmed Manasra is particularly disturbing. Ahmed and his cousin Hassan stabbed and injured two Israelis, which resulted in an Israeli soldier shooting Hassan dead at point blank range.

Settlers then ran over Ahmed with a car as he tried to flee, shouting “death to Arabs”. Ahmed, who was 12 years old at the time, was arrested and tied to a hospital bed, where he was interrogated.

In August Ahmed was sentenced to 12 years in jail, although prison authorities requested it be reduced, given his rehabilitation and good behaviour. He is serving nine years.

At the time of his detention, a video went viral on Youtube of one of Ahmed’s interrogations in which he is seen hitting his head repeatedly as a result of the immense psychological pressure he was put under during interrogation.

While Ahmed engaged in a crime that cannot be justified even under the guise of the “right to resist occupation”, his treatment by the security establishment is unacceptable.

The social and psychological effects on children as a result of treatment in detention are long-lasting and, according to Qaraqe, many suffer extreme post-traumatic stress disorder, refuse to go to school, isolate themselves, and cannot sleep.

Whatever side of the Israeli-palestinian conflict one is sympathetic to, the rights of children everymust be considered indivisible.

That starts with the right to life, not to be separated from parents, not to be held incommunicado, abused or tortured, and to have a fair trial in a children’s court. For as long as Palestinian children are not afforded these rights under the pretext of national security, the international community must raise its collective voices in protest.