Israeli occupation forces have once again shown complete disregard towards principals of medical neutrality when they forced a PMRS Doctor and member of the PMRS Administrative Council, to strip in a public street near Al Nohmaan village in Bethlehem.

On the evening of Friday the 5th of November, Dr Mohamed Odeh was stopped whilst driving back to his home in Beit Jala. Dr Odeh, who was accompanied by his wife and six children aged between two and thirteen years, was returning from a village outside of Bethlehem where they had broken the Ramadan fast with his wife's family.

An Israeli military jeep stopped the car and shined a bright light at the Doctor and his family. They forced him to show his ID, whilst snubbing the Medical ID he also presented. Whilst pointing their guns at the family they began to shout at them terrifying the children who were by this time crying hysterically. The soldiers then forced the Doctor to vacate his car and ordered him to take his clothes off down to his underwear. They then forced Dr Odeh to remain standing in the public street near his car and in front of his family.

Dr Odeh later confirmed that this is not the first time incidents of this nature have occurred in the area, with numerous reports coming from the Bethlehem's residents of psychological torture and humiliation.

Yesterday's events were particularly offensive because of the religious significance of this current month, the humiliation that this man had to endure in front of his family, and because Dr Odeh made it very clear that he was a Doctor. Dr Odeh clearly presented no risk he was merely traveling home with family after what had been an enjoyable evening, yet this did not deter the soldiers from humiliating him and terrifying his young children.

PMRS asks all humanitarian, human rights and health organizations to protest this recent incident, to pressurize the Israeli occupation forces to allow the free movement of medical teams, and to respect principals of medical neutrality.

Give Sight to the Blind and Freedom to the Captives

We, as members of the Anglican Peace and Justice Network, representing 23 Provinces of the worldwide 75,000,000 member Anglican Communion, have visited the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem over these last 8 days, and during that time have been inspired by the faith of the people in the diocese, while also being exposed to the draconian conditions of the continuing Occupation under which so many Palestinians live. We have heard from Israeli Jewish voices, and from Palestinians, both those who reside in Israel and those who live under Occupation. We note the continuing policies of illegal home demolitions, detentions, checkpoints, identity card systems and the presence of the Israeli military that make any kind of normal life impossible. We have seen and heard the effects of the overwhelming presence of settlements or colonies in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and in Gaza, and the bypass roads and highways that connect them while disconnecting Palestinian villages, one from another. We have seen the destruction of precious arable lands and restrictions on precious water resources. Finally, and shockingly, we have been exposed to the separation wall that violates international boundaries, causing mayhem in Palestinian daily life and further defines Israeli intentions to appropriate land from the Palestinians.

We conclude from our experience that there is little will on behalf of the Israeli government to recognize the rights of the Palestinians to a sovereign state to be created in the West Bank – which includes East Jerusalem – and Gaza. Israel, with the complicity of the United States, seems determined to flout international laws, whether they are the Geneva Conventions, United Nations resolutions or the most recent decision of the International Court of Justice in declaring the separation wall illegal. In fact, we note that this latter decision is based on building the wall on Palestinian territory, which once again demonstrates the illegality of the Occupation itself.

We deeply respect and honor those Israelis who are prepared to end this miserable Occupation and recognize a Palestinian State, people courageously committed to justice and who work against home demolitions, who promote human rights and oppose settlements, bypass roads and the separation wall. And we pay tribute to the courage, endurance and hope of the Palestinian people who suffer the dreadful injustice of the Occupation.

We deplore the unwillingness of the Israeli government to implement United Nations resolutions 242 and 338. At the same time, we want to assure the Israeli Jewish community of our concern for their security and safety, to be able live without fear. We deplore the unbroken cycle of violence, which has claimed too many innocent lives on both sides. We condemn violence whatever the source. We reach out to Palestinians and Israelis of good will, assuring both of them of our love and support in ending this long and troubled conflict. We embrace all those who have lost loved ones in the violence and extend our deepest sympathies.

We offer not only our solidarity for a just peace, but also our observation that it is the Occupation in its many facets that foments the violence and fuels the conflict. Collective punishment of the Palestinian people must be brought to an end.

We therefore urge the following steps in order to achieve a sovereign and independent Palestine living alongside a secure Israel recognized by and at peace with her neighbors:

• The withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from all occupied areas in accordance with 1967 borders and a complete halt to settlement building, both new or expanded, to be followed by a process of phasing out settlements altogether
• The immediate dismantling of the separation wall in compliance with the ruling of the International Court of Justice wherever the wall violates West Bank land
• The introduction of an international peacekeeping force under the auspices of the United Nations into the Occupied Territories charged with maintaining security so that both sides may be free from further attacks
• A humanitarian effort led by the United Nations to provide relief to the suffering Palestinian people
• The immediate resumption of negotiations involving Israel and the Palestinian Authority under the umbrella of the United Nations, European Union, Russia, the United States and the Arab League (while we support a total withdrawal from Gaza, we urge it to be part of an overall resolution of the conflict).
• That negotiations be based on United Nations resolutions 242 and 338 that results in a viable and sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital as well as the capital of Israel, and assures the right of return for Palestinian refugees
• The unconditional recognition of the state of Palestine must be implemented if peace is to prevail in the Middle East.

As an aside, we are deeply troubled by the use of United States made weapons and aircraft provided to Israel and being used for attacks on civilian targets, which occur with increasing frequency. We urge a moratorium on the use of such weapons, which violate U.S. law.

And we address a word to the wider conflict in the Middle East. The war in Iraq further fuels anger and hatred during these already volatile times. We urge the withdrawal of U.S. forces to be replaced with an international presence led by the United Nations. Further, we believe that a much more constructive course would be for President Bush and Prime Minister Blair to intervene and resuscitate the peace process as a direct action of healing and reconciliation for the global community.

Finally, we call upon the faith communities, and especially the Anglican Communion, to a time of focused and intentional prayer and advocacy for peace in the Holy Land. We call on the leadership of the Abrahamic Faiths from around the world to exercise their authority and influence on the political leadership among the several nations who carry the responsibility for making a just peace.

We have heard that the Senate may rush the vote on a resolution introduced by Sen. Gordon Smith last July and now sponsored by 43 senators which condemns the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for advising the United Nations that the Israeli-built "Separation Wall" was illegal and should be torn down.

Please call your senators TODAY OR NO LATER THAN MONDAY (their telephone numbers are available on (www.congress.org) to express your views on Senate Resolution 408. Tell them that the ICJ advisory opinion does NOT prevent Israel from defending itself as long as it builds a wall on its own land, but DOES strike an important blow for human rights and international law. Moreover, the Israeli High Court has recently ruled that the wall is violating Palestinian human rights and must be redirected. Urge your senators to withdraw their sponsorship of the resolution or vote against it. It is important for you to place these calls because tallies are always kept and our collective must must be heard.

If you belong to a local activist organization that wishes to endorse the US Campaign's general petition (see below), contact them at http://www.endtheoccupation.org/petition.php?pid=5  and sign on.

Here's the background:

On July 9 the ICJ ruled that the wall Israel is building in the Palestinian West Bank is "contrary to international law" and that Israel must cease its construction, dismantle it, and pay reparations to those damaged by it.

Members of Congress who support Israel's military occupation responded by introducing legislation condemning the ICJ ruling and backing Israel's illegal wall. The House quickly passed a resolution to this effect in July but a sizable number of Members voted against it or abstained, partly as a result of your efforts. In August, CNI and other members of the Washington Wednesday group called on the offices of those congress members to thank them for their vote.

A similar resolution -- Senate Res. 408 -- was introduced in the Senate July 20 but until now has not been voted upon.

On September 9, the US Campaign to End the Occupation (of which CNI is a member) delivered a petition to each senator signed by 135 organizations urging senators not to support Senate Resolution 408.

Palestinian Children Mark the Day of the Palestinian Child Under Siege

April 5, Palestinian Day of the Child, passes this year with the worst attack on children’s rights witnessed in over a decade. Despite massive demonstrations around the world in support of the Palestinian right to independence and calling for an immediate halt to Israel’s brutal siege on the Palestinian population, some world leaders and international organizations continue to utter vacuous platitudes calling on “both sides to halt the violence.”

Such statements misrepresent an already misunderstood situation, portraying the current situation as two groups on equal footing, engaged in a senseless spiral of violence without cause or reason. This characterization is not only false, but also deliberately obscures the fact that the situation is really one of an occupied population subjected to over 34 years of indiscriminate government sanctioned abuse. To cast the Israeli military occupation in such an “invisible” light as these statements attempt to do, is to make reality equally hard to see.

DCI/PS stresses with the utmost force the root cause of violence and instability in the region is the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land. Palestinian society has been encircled, beaten and strangled by this occupation for decades. The years since the signing of the Oslo Accords have seen the acceleration of this occupation despite the illusion of sovereignty given by formal Israeli redeployment from Palestinian cities. The form of occupation may have changed but the content has remained the same. It is this content that lies at the heart of the conflict.

It is an occupation that the international community has allowed for over 34 years by its failure to act and ensure that Israel comply with UN resolutions calling for withdrawal from the occupied territories. It is an occupation that has been perpetuated by an international community that fails to intervene to ensure that Israel comply with its obligations under international human rights and humanitarian law. And it is statements such as these from the international community that obfuscate the root cause of the problem and enable the brutal occupation regime to continue laying siege to an imprisoned population.

This state-sponsored terror against an entire civilian population must be opposed by anyone genuinely interested in resolving the current crisis. Terminating this occupation is the sole task of the day.

Palestinian children are currently entering the second week of imprisonment in their homes. Over 53% of the Palestinian population are children and they form the primary victims of an occupation that systematically denies them the right to a decent future. The urgent humanitarian crisis in Palestinian towns and villages resulting from the conscious severing of water lines, cutting of electricity supplies, targeting of ambulances and medical staff and the violent military bombardment of residential areas directly targets Palestinian children as the most vulnerable sector of the population.

Still under siege, DCI/PS staff continues to gather information about the effect of the current situation on Palestinian children. Below are two case studies which illustrate the conditions to which Palestinian children are subjected. The case studies are merely a sample of the general conditions faced by every Palestinian child at present.

1. In a 3 April press release, DCI/PS reported the shooting of 14 year old Kindi Qutteineh as he was walking down the street during the lifting of the curfew on Tuesday, 2 April. DCI/PS has received additional information about children living in the same building compound as Kindi. The compound in which the families are living is located in downtown Ramallah. This is their story: During the lifting of the curfew in Ramallah on Tuesday, 2 April, one of the female members of a family living in the compound went out to buy supplies. When she was returning to her house, she heard a shot ring out. Her back was to Kindi as he was heading towards town to buy food. She was about 20 meters away from Kindi when he was shot. According to Kindi, he heard the shot, felt something warm on his leg, looked down, and saw a hole in his trousers, and saw blood. He began screaming, “I’ve been shot, I’ve been shot.” People in the vicinity brought the boy into the courtyard of the compound in which he is living. It took 45 minutes for the ambulance to arrive. Meanwhile the four other children in the compound saw him lying in pools of his own blood, including the women’s niece, 10 year old Juman. The children range in age from three months to 12 years.

Juman’s family live near Arafat’s compound. They moved to the other apartment for fear of their safety. By the time of the lifting of the curfew, they had heard that their home had been damaged so a friend offered to drive them over to check on it during the lifting of the curfew. At this point 10 year old Juman became very upset at the thought of her mother or any family members leaving. She wanted all the family members to stay together. So, they gathered her with them and went to check out the house. They tried several unsuccessful routes but were unable to reach the house because the roads have been torn up. So they decided to head back to where they were staying. On their way back they were stopped when an Israeli soldier accosted the car, pointing his gun at the passengers, including 10 year old Juman. According to her aunt, Juman had an intense physical reaction to this. She began shaking, but she did not scream. Later she told her mother: “Mommy, I was screaming from the inside, but I couldn’t get it out.”

Today, 5 April 2002 Israeli soldiers invaded the compound in which they are living. At around 9:30am they heard soldiers trying to break down the main gate of the compound. Neighbors went and opened the gate. Around 12 fully armed soldiers entered the compound, pointing their guns in all directions and yelling at the people to go inside their homes. They entered Juman’s home. Juman’s aunt asked them to be gentle because her mother is staying with her and is elderly. The soldiers replied: ‘Oh, your mother is here. Maybe I’ll kill her.

All of these events have happened within a period of three days. There are five children living in the compound. 10 year old Juman, Kindi, a 3 year old, and two others, around 7 and 12 years old.

2. At approximately 7pm, 2 April, five Israeli tanks and three armored personnel carriers (APC) took up positions in front of a three story building, including three apartments belonging to one family. More than 10 soldiers emerged from the APC and began beating on the fence in front of the building, shouting, and shooting at the door. At this time, there was no electricity in the area, save the street lights, which the soldiers promptly shot out. Two of the women in the building left the apartment, proceeded to the main entrance and told the soldiers that they were going to open the door. The women opened the main door and soldiers rushed into the building, pointing their guns at the women.

The soldiers asked how many persons are inside the building and where they are located. The women answered that there are 20 people and they are all staying in the first floor building. Of the 20, there were seven children ranging in age from one month to six years old. The families had moved to the first floor apartment for safety because the building is opposite the Preventive Security Headquarters.

The soldiers invaded the first floor apartment and separated the men from the women, putting the women in one apartment and the men in another. After that they collected their identity cards and began searching the house. They removed the phones from the apartment and confiscated the mobile phones of the residents. The soldiers were very aggressive in the manner in which they treated the children. The children were prevented from moving around. The one month old baby was sleeping in another room and the family asked to bring the baby in with them. The soldiers refused to allow the family to get the baby until they finished searching the building, approximately 2 hours.

The soldiers destroyed much of the furniture in the house, broke down doors, and tore the curtains. They remained in the building until noon the following day, 3 April. Soldiers arrested one of the family members while he was holding one of his three children. Upon their departure, they re-placed the telephones, but stole the mobile phones.

3. The family of Riad Al Atari, from the north of the West Bank, moved to Beit Sahour in the Bethlehem region a few days ago. On 3 April, Riad left the apartment fearing arrest in the wake of the Israeli campaign of mass arbitrary arrest of Palestinian males. His wife and three children, a 5 month baby, a 6-year old boy and a 4-year old girl remained. At approximately 8pm, Israeli soldiers surrounded the building with a large number of tanks and soldiers. They began to shoot randomly and called on everyone to exit. The Atari family were the only people staying in the building at the time and they were forced to stand outside in freezing temperatures and rain for nearly 6 hours. The three young children and their mother remained outside in these conditions until 2am while Israeli soldiers went through the building destroying furniture, emptying out closets and spreading everything on the floor. They refused to allow the family to retrieve any personal belongings or take clothes to protect themselves from the weather. The family was eventually allowed to take shelter in a neighboring building and the next day moved to another apartment in Beit Sahour.

DCI/PS calls on the international community to intervene and demand an immediate halt to Israel's siege on the occupied territories and an end to the Israeli occupation. Please address letters of protest to the following individuals:

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Mrs. Mary Robinson
OHCHR
Tel. ++41 22 917 9000
Fax. ++41 22 917 9012/9006/9005
E-mail webadmin.hchr@unog.ch

UN Committee on the Rights of the Child
Mr. Jaap Doek, Chair
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
UNOG-OHCHR
Ch-1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland
Fax: + 41 22 917 9022

UNICEF
Carol Bellamy, Executive Director
UNICEF House
3 United Nations Plaza
New York, NY 10017
USA
Tel: +212 826 7000
Fax: +212 887 7465
CC: UNICEF Jerusalem Office
Pierre Poupard
UNICEF Special Representative
West Bank & Gaza
FAX: 583 0806

Israeli Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon
Office of the Prime Minister
Tel: ++972 2 6705555
Fax: ++972 2 566 4838
Email: pm@gov.il

President, European Commission
(Romano Prodi)
European Commission
200 rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 200
B-1049 Brussels
Belgium
E-mail: romano.prodi@cec.eu.int

US President
George Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Phone: ++1-202 456 1414
Fax: ++1-202 456 2461
Email: president@whitehouse.gov

1. OVERVIEW OF PRISON CONDITIONS FOR CHILD POLITICAL PRISONERS
2. UPDATES ON PALESTINIAN GIRL-CHILD PRISONERS
3. INCREASED SENTENCE LENGTHS SINCE 1999
4. ISRAELI VIOLATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL NORMS AND STANDARDS

1. OVERVIEW OF PRISON CONDITIONS FOR CHILD POLITICAL PRISONERS:

As of 16 February 2002, there were between 155 - 160 Palestinian child political prisoners, detained in the following Israeli facilities:

§ Approximately 50 detained in Section 8 of Telmond prison, with another 15-20 detained in Ofeq juvenile detention center (part of the Telmond compound, designed for Israeli criminal juvenile prisoners). Some of these children are as young as 14.
§ Approximately 70 children aged 16 and 17 are detained in Megiddo Military Prison
§ One 15 year old girl detained in Ramle Women’s Prison
§ One girl child detained in Moskobiyya Compound (Jerusalem)
§ More than 15 other children detained in various detention centers in the West Bank, including Addoraim (Hebron area) and Etzion (Bethlehem area).

As in previous months, children continued to be denied access to family visits and, in some cases, lawyer visits.

TELMOND

The overwhelming majority (~95%) of Palestinian children (aged 14 to 17) detained in Telmond are held on the charge of stone throwing.

On Thursday 24 January, prison guards raided the rooms of Palestinian child political prisoners and sprayed them with tear gas in addition to attacking them. Three prisoners were injured:

Nimer Muslimani (face)
Mohannad Bseli (back)
Murad Bseli (cut on head)

The following Thursday, 31 January, the prisoners rooms were raided a second time. The prisoner’s were beaten and five prisoners were placed in isolation: Abdul Jawad Hamud (the prisoners representative), Khaled Halawani, Nimer Muslimani, Mohannad Bseli, Murad Bseli.

These measures came after the prison administration closed one of the two main sections in which Palestinian child political prisoners are detained, and placed all child prisoners in the other section, to which the child prisoners were refusing to move because the living conditions were far worse. Each room holds two prisoners, but are too small and allow no room to move. If the children want to leave the room, to go for their outside time ('foura'), they are searched leaving and coming. Also, they are most often handcuffed when they leave the room. Finally, the windows are covered by iron. While air can pass through the window, because of the covering, the children are unable to actually see outside.

Prison staff confiscated from the prisoners their heaters for cooking, televisions and radios. In addition to occasionally preventing them from going to recreation period and, at other times, shortening the period of recreation. As a result, the prisoners began a hunger strike on Sunday 3 February. This strike lasted approximately one week. The prisoners were demanding the return of confiscated materials, the removal of prisoners from isolation and improving their prison situation.

On 11 February the prisoners in isolation began a hunger strike. As of 13 February 2002, five children remained in isolation, and the personal belongings of the prisoners that had been confiscated had not been returned. In addition, the prison administration is demanding that the prisoners collect amongst themselves 3,000 NIS to cover costs of repairing damage to the facility caused during the unrest.

In general, the prison administration treats the Palestinian child political prisoners very poorly:

- If a prisoner wants to seek medical treatment, he is not allowed to go to the clinic. Instead, a doctor or nurse comes to the prisoner and ‘examines’ them through a chain link fence. There is no direct contact between the patient and the physician.

- Another problem involves the speech (khutba) given during Friday prayer. One of the child prisoners prepares the speech and gives the speech during the prayers for the prisoners. If the prison administration does not object to the content of the speech, life proceeds smoothly. If the prison administration objects, however, the person who wrote the speech is taken to isolation.

- The prison guards continually threaten the prisoners with being sent to isolation, being beaten or being punished in some other way.

MEGIDDO MILITARY PRISON

In January, around 70 Palestinian children, ranging in age from 16 to 17 years old, were detained in Megiddo Military Prison, under the administration of the Israeli Ministry of Defence. The child prisoners are divided among 7 sections. All prisoners are detained in overcrowded tents.

Approximately 90% of the children are detained on the charge of stone throwing, while the other 10% are detained for more serious offences, including throwing molotov cocktails, membership in political organizations, etc.)

In January, there was an increase in the number of child prisoners held in the facility and the length of sentences for children entering into Megiddo is increasing. Also, all of the children who appear before the Shlish Court (Parole Committee) are refused early release.

A main challenge facing child prisoners in Megiddo remains that they are treated in the same manner as adult prisoners and not accorded their special status as juveniles.

DETENTION CENTERS

Dismal conditions of detention exist in the various detention centers located throughout the occupied territories, particularly in Addoraim (Hebron area) and Etzion (Bethlehem area).

For example, in Addoraim, 14 prisoners (both adults and at least 3 children) are detained in one room, resulting in extreme overcrowding. In addition, very small quantities of inedible food are provided to the detainees. Recently, on 13 February, the detainees refused to take the food offered because the quantity was so small and the quality so bad. The prisoners are demanding to be transferred out of the facility and to be given an appropriate amount of decent quality food. Depending on the particular case, some children are held up to one month in Addoraim before being transferred to a standard prison.

A similar problem exists in Etzion Detention Center. DCI/PS currently has a case of a 15 year old child who was arrested on 24 January and is still being held there, as of 16 February, in overcrowded conditions with poor food of insufficient quality.

In addition to overcrowded living conditions, Palestinian child political detainees are routinely exposed to torture during their stays in the detention centers.

2. UPDATES ON GIRL-CHILD PRISONERS:

§ Girl child prisoner Sawsan Abu Turki was released on bail in January, until her court is finished and her sentence issued. Sawsan was scheduled for court on 4 February, but at the request of the DCI/PS attorney the date was extended until the 20th of February. Dr. Ruchmana Martin from Physicians for Human Rights Israel has examined Sawsan and will submit a report to DCI/PS, which will be submitted to the court. The terms of Sawsan’s release on bail, stipulate that she remain under house arrest, leaving only to go to hospital and court, at which times she must be with a chaperone over 30 years old.

§ 15 year old Raba’a Hamael is the only girl child currently detained in Ramle Women’s Prison (Neve Tertze). In December, the Jerusalem District Court sentenced Raba’a to five years imprisonment. She was arrested on 29 May 2001.

Recently two Palestinian girl children have been arrested, one of whom DCI/PS is representing in court. They are both being held in Moskobiyya Compound in Jerusalem.

§ Fidaa’ Ishaq Ibrahim Ghannam

Place of Residence: Hebron
Date of Birth: 9 November 1986.
Date of Arrest: 9 February 2002

Charges: 1. Having a knife without permission; 2. attempting to attack a settler with a knife.

Fidaa’ was sent directly to interrogation following her arrest on 9 February. During her interrogation, she denied that she tried to or intended to kill anyone. She stated that the knife in her bag was for school.

When the prosecutor reviewed the file, upon finding that there was insufficient evidence to charge her with attempting to kill, she was sent again to interrogation on 13 February. Again she denied trying to harm anyone. On the 14th of February, the prosecutor interrogated an Israeli settler who is a witness for the prosecution.

In a court session on 13 February, the Prosecutor presented charges of intent to kill. After re-interrogating both her and the settler, during the court session on the 14th, he lessened the charges to attempting to attack a settler with a knife.

A court decision issued on 14 Feb. determined that Fida’ will be held pending trial. DCI/PS, however, will file an appeal against this decision on Sunday, 17 February. In the appeal, DCI/PS will insist that Fidaa’ be released on bail, similar to the manner in which Sawsan Abu Turki was released into her parents custody until her court case is closed.

§ According to information provided by the Palestinian Prisoners Club, 17 year old Nisreen Atef Abu Zeina (d.o.b. 10 June 1984), from Tulkarem, was recently arrested and is being held in Al-Jalameh Detention Center.

3. INCREASED SENTENCE LENGTHS SINCE 1999:

In 1999, 43.51% of the cases DCI/PS represented, received a sentence of less than one month. In the year 2001, that percentage has decreased to 20.21%. Conversely, in 1999 only 19.08% of cases received a sentence of six months to one year, and 6.88% received sentences of more than one year. In 2001, however, 48.94% of cases were sentenced to between six months and one year and 15.96% to more than one year.

In other words, there has been a 156% increase in cases receiving sentences of between six months and one year, and a 132% increase in cases receiving sentences of more than one year. It should be noted that the charges for which Palestinian children are arrested and detained have remained the same. The overwhelming majority of children are sentenced on the charge of stone throwing.

4. ISRAELI VIOLATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL NORMS AND STANDARDS:

Below is a summary of the main international norms and standards routinely violated by the State of Israel in its treatment of Palestinian child political prisoners.

Systematic Detention of Children:

§ United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), article 37, "The arrest or imprisonment of a child shall be in conformity with the law and shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time."

§ UN Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty (adopted by General Assembly resolution 45/113 of 14 December 1990), 1. "The juvenile justice system should uphold the rights and safety and promote the physical and mental well-being of juveniles. Imprisonment should be used as a last resort."

§ Beijing Rules (UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice), 18.1, "A large variety of disposition measures shall be made available to the competent authority, allowing for flexibility so as to avoid institutionalization to the greatest extent possible. Such measures, some of which may be combined, include:

a) Care, guidance and supervision orders;
b) Probation;
c) Community service orders;
d) Financial penalties, compensation and restitution;
e) Intermediate treatment and other treatment orders;
f) Orders to participate in group counselling and similar activities;
g) Orders concerning foster care, living communities or other educational settings;
h) Other relevant orders.

§ Beijing Rules, 19.1 "The placement of a juvenile in an institution shall always be a disposition of last resort and for the minimum necessary period."

Political Prisoners Detained with Criminal Prisoners:

One practice of serious concern to DCI/PS is the placement of child prisoners with criminal prisoners in Telmond Prison. This practice was reintroduced by the Israeli Prison Authorities in the latter part of the year 2000 and is contrary to the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (Standard Minimum Rules) adopted by UN Economic and Social Council resolution 663C (XXIV), on July 31, 1957. This resolution provides authoritative guidance in interpreting principles laid out in documents such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The Standard Minimum Rules apply to all persons in detention, for whatever reason. Among other things, the rules note:
· different categories of prisoners shall be kept in separate institutions (or parts of institutions), taking account of their sex, age, criminal record, the legal reason for their detention and the necessities of their treatment;
· handcuffs, chains, irons and straitjackets should never be used as punishment;
· people detained for civil or administrative reasons should be kept separately from people imprisoned for a criminal offense

Torture

· UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984)
· UN Declaration of Human Rights, Article 5, 1948, "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."
· UN Covenant on the Rights of the Child, Article 37 (a), 1989, "no child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment"
· Fourth Geneva Convention, Article 32, 1949, "High Contracting Parties specifically agree that each of them is prohibited from taking any measure of such a character as to cause the physical suffering or extermination of protected persons in their hands. This prohibition applies not only to murder, torture,…but also to any other measures of brutality whether applied by civilian or military agents"
· UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 7, 1966, "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. In particular, no one shall be subjected without his free consent to medical or scientific experimentation."
· UN Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials, Article 5, 1979, "… nor may any law enforcement official invoke superior orders or exceptional circumstances such as a state of war or a threat of war, a threat to national security…as a justification of torture…"
· UN General Assembly Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment: UN General Assembly RES 39/46, Annex; Article 2, 1. Each State Party shall take effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory under its jurisdiction. 2. No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat or war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture. 3. An order from a superior officer or a public authority may not be invoked as a justification of torture.
· U.N. Commission on Human Rights, Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, U.N. Doc. E/CN.4/1994/31 1994)(Nigel Rodley, Special Rapporteur). Israel 352. By letter dated 26 August 1993 the Special Rapporteur informed the Government that he had received information according to which the practice of torture in military interrogation centres still persisted. Methods included severe beating, hooding, prolonged handcuffing, tying in painful positions, confinement in tiny and airless spaces, electric shocks, sleep deprivation, exposure to extreme temperatures and prolonged solitary confinement. 353. Another prevailing complaint concerned the lack of access to medical facilities. Detainees who are in need of physical or mental health-care treatment are often denied access to doctors or are not allowed to receive medication. In addition, Israeli physicians and other medical personnel have allegedly been involved in certifying detainees' fitness to undergo some of the methods of interrogation reportedly used by the Israeli authorities; in examining and providing treatment to victims before allowing them to be returned to interrogation; and in covering up abuses by interrogators.
· UN Committee Against Torture, A/49/44, paras. 159-171; 12 June 1994, Concluding Observations of the Committee Against Torture: Israel 165. There is real concern that no legal steps have been taken to implement domestically the Convention against Torture. Thus, the Convention does not form part of the domestic law of Israel and its provisions cannot be invoked in Israeli courts. 166. The Committee regrets the clear failure to implement the definition of torture as contained in article 1 of the Convention.

Denial of the Right to Education:

§ UN Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty, 38. "Every juvenile of compulsory school age has the right to education suited to his or her needs and abilities and designed to prepare him or her for return to society. Such education should be provided outside the detention facility in community schools wherever possible and, in any case, by qualified teachers through programmes integrated with the education system of the country so that, after release, juveniles may continue their education without difficulty. Special attention should be given by the administration of the detention facilities to the education of juveniles of foreign origin or with particular cultural or ethnic needs…"

§ Beijing Rules, 26.2, "Juveniles in institutions shall receive care, protection and all necessary assistance - social, educational, vocational, psychological, medical and physical - that they may require because of their age, sex, and personality and in the interest of their wholesome development."

Inadequate Medical Care

§ UN Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty, 49, "Every juveniles shall receive adequate medical care, both preventive and remedial, …"

§ (Also, see Beijing Rule 26.2 above)

Isolation

§ UN Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty, 67, "All disciplinary measures constituting cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment shall be strictly prohibited, including corporal punishment, placement in a dark cell, closed or solitary confinement or any other punishment that may compromise the physical or mental health of the juvenile concerned."

Denial of Family Visits:

§ article 37c, CRC, "Every child deprived of liberty…shall have the right to maintain contact with his or her family through correspondence and visits, save in exception circumstances."

§ Beijing Rules, 26.5, "In the interest and well-being of the institutionalized juvenile, the parents or guardians shall have a right of access."

Denial of Legal Visits:

§ article 37d, CRC, "Every child deprived of his or her liberty shall have the right to prompt access to legal and other appropriate assistance, as well as the right to challenge the legality of the deprivation of his or her liberty before a court or other competent, independent and impartial authority, and to a prompt decision on any such action.

§ Beijing Rules, 15.1, "Throughout the proceedings the juvenile shall have the right to be represented by a legal adviser or to apply for free legal aid where there is provision for such aid in the country."