77% of children arrested by Israel suffer physical abuse at hands of military

The organisation, Defense for Children International (DCI) is a NGO that works to protect and promote children’s rights. It is has been running a campaign for many years, calling for the release of Palestinian child prisoners. Also in February, Defense for Children International released a report which it also submitted to the UN, detailing the situation faced by Palestinian children, based on sworn testimonies of the children affected.

DCI found that, of the children arrested between Oct-Dec 2010 (on the accusation of “throwing stones”), 77% of children reported to have suffered physical abuse by the military. That is a huge percentage of children being abused, by those with an enormous position of authority over them. In relation to this, it clearly shows that the Israeli military is using disproportionate amounts of so called ‘defense’ against the small scale resistance presented by these children.

It is rare that in these situations a child’s parents are present when they are being interrogated let alone the children gaining access to a lawyer. Often, the parents are unaware of where their child is being taken and held for a number of days. They are only able to establish the whereabouts of their child through the assistance of NGO’s, if that.

According to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), specifically Article 37, it states that: “No child shall be tortured or suffer other cruel treatment or punishment. The arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child shall only be used as a last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time. Children must not be put in a prison with adults and they must be able to keep in contact with their family”. more

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