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Report from the
West Bank, 29/11 —13/12 2003 On:
Hearings
in Israeli Military Courts.
The
impact of the Wall, settlements, checkpoints,
roadblocks and house demolitions.
INTRODUCTION
At the request
of the children rights’ organization Defence for Children
International, Palestine Section (DCI/PS), we were appointed by the
Swedish section of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) as
delegates/trial observers to the West Bank to be present at trials
in Israeli Military Courts in the West Bank regarding cases where
Palestinian children were detained for trying to kill settlers,
stone throwing, military actions and membership of militant groups.
Our intention was also to interview relatives of detained
Palestinian children and ex-prisoners.
Another
intention was to observe and interview Palestinians on how the Wall,
checkpoints, roadblocks and house demolitions have affected them and
in particular the children.
The visit
began with preparations for the hearings. Meetings were held with
the host organization DCI/PS; Addameer (a Palestinian
non-governmental organization which focuses on offering support for
Palestinian prisoners); Al-Haq (Affiliate, International Commission
of Jurists-Geneva, a Palestinian human rights and legal research
organization located in Ramallah); HaMoked (Center for the Defence
of the Individual).
We were also
trial observers in the High Court of Justice in West Jerusalem
concerning the secret prison “Facility 1391” at the request of the
Israeli organization HaMoked. A special report is written about this
hearing.
A meeting was
also held with the Negotiations Support Unit, Negotiations Affairs
Department (PLO) about the Wall.
The aim of
this report is:
·
to
describe the situation for Palestinian children under arrest,
interrogation and during trial in relation to international law with
special focus on the IV Geneva Convention and the UN Convention on
the Rights of the Child
·
to
describe the ICJ delegate’s impressions of the court hearings
·
to
describe the impact of the Wall, checkpoints, roadblocks,
settlements and house demolitions on the Palestinians and, in
particular, on the children
·
to
briefly report, on the humanitarian and human rights situation in
the
Occupied Territories
HEARINGS IN ISRAELI MILITARY COURTS IN
THE WEST BANK
Salem
Military Court in the north of the West Bank.
The trial took
place in a small court room in an Israeli military barrack
surrounded by a fence and barbed wire. There was no problem for us
to enter the court room. The soldiers did not even ask for our
ID-cards.
Present were:
a military judge, two military national servicemen responsible for
taking minutes, a military prosecutor, seven prisoners, three
Palestinian lawyers, a Hebrew-Arabic interpreter (a national
serviceman), 12 armed military soldiers aside from us and our
Palestinian interpreter (Jerusalem ID-card). Many relatives of the
detainees were also present.
The detainees
were handcuffed and foot chained when they entered the court room.
The handcuffs were removed when the trial started. Everyone had to
stand up when the judge entered. Due to the number of people
present, the court room was very crowded. Armed soldiers went in and
out. It was very noisy in the court room. The Hebrew-Arabic
interpreter tried to silence the audience. He knocked on his desk
very loudly and shouted “silence”. There was no problem for our
interpreter to interpret from Arabic to English but he had to do it
in a very low voice. Our interpreter said that the Hebrew-Arabic
interpreter was “very good, decent, precise and humane”. Our
interpreter sensed a hostile attitude from some of the Israeli
soldiers towards the Hebrew-Arabic interpreter. During a short break
in one of the hearings one woman lawyer who stood near the
prosecutor suddenly started to talk to the judge. They smiled as if
they had a very good relation.
Case 1
Anas Odeh, age 16, date of arrest 09/04/03, from Tulkarm.
Facts about
the case: DCI informed us that Anas had confessed to planning a
suicide attack. He is held in Telmond prison.
The prosecutor
informed the court that he and the Palestinian lawyer had reached an
agreement. The agreement was 32 months’ imprisonment, 3000 shekel
(which is part of the punishment) and 30 months’ suspended sentence.
Anas accepted and so did the judge who took into consideration Anas
age and the personal circumstance that his father is dead.
Case 2 and
3
Osama Adnan Harashi, age 15, from Qaffin village in Tulkarm and
Abdel Rahman Fathi Al Khatib, age 15, from the same village. Facts
about the cases: DCI informed us that the two boys had confessed to
trying to kill an Israeli Wall guard.
Osama Adnan
Harashi’s hearing
The prosecutor
informed the court that he and the Palestinian lawyer had reached an
agreement of nine years’ imprisonment and five years’ suspended
sentence and said that this should be respected. The prosecutor
stated that Osama was only 15 years old when he committed the crime
and that the victim was only slightly injured and could return to
normal life a short time after the attack. Taking that into account
as well as the public interest he agreed to nine years’ imprisonment
instead of ten years, which is the maximum for such a crime.
The lawyer
said, “the judge must take into consideration that Osama had not
committed any crimes before. He is a young boy and to be sentenced
to many years of imprisonment would be painful for him”. He also
said that Osama had approved the agreement.
The judge
said. “It is a serious crime to attempt to kill a guard with a
knife. The guard was injured. It is therefore good to accept the
agreement even if Osama is a young boy. The maximum sentence is 10
years of imprisonment and I have taken into consideration the
injuries of the guard and Osama’s confession. Therefore nine years
of imprisonment and one year suspended sentence is relevant for such
a crime. I do not accept five years’ suspended sentence”.
Abdel
Rahman Fathi al Khatib’s hearing
The prosecutor
and the lawyer reached the same agreement as in Osama’s case. Abdel
had also confessed and accepted the agreement.
The
judgments
The judge
sentenced both Osama and Abdel to nine years’ imprisonment and one
year suspended sentence.
Definition
of a Palestinian Child
Israeli law
stipulates that “an individual who has not reached the age of 18 is
a minor; an individual who has reached the age of 18 is an adult”.
Palestinian
children in the Occupied Territories are not covered by this Israeli
law, but instead by Israeli Military Order #132 which defines a
Palestinian child as follows.
A child is a
person under 12 years.
A teenager is
a person above 12 years and under 14 years.
An adolescent
is a person above 14 years and under 16 years.
An adult is a
person 16 years and above.
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Israeli law
According to
Israeli Youth Law 1971, it is possible to impose a punishment of
imprisonment on an Israeli child who is age 14 at the time of
his/her sentencing. However, as the Israeli report to the Committee
on the Rights of the Child has made clear, “In sentencing a minor,
the Juvenile Court must consider, inter alia, the age of the minor
when he committed the offense. For minors, the tendency of the court
is to prefer methods of treatment that are not imprisonment”.
The Israeli
official report says that “a suspect being minor must be considered
when deciding upon arrest until the termination of proceedings,
although this does not in itself create grounds for immunity.”
According to the Alternative Report, submitted by DCI-PS to the
Committee on the Rights of the Child, the Supreme Court of Israel
has also held that there is no obligation to keep a minor under
arrest until the termination of proceedings, even in the case of
murder. (Alternative Report to the State of Israel’s first Periodic
Report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, March 2002, page
4-5).
Observations after the trial
Soldiers
handcuffed the boys and they left the court room. Outside the
court room Abdel was allowed to talk to his three brothers and his
uncle for some minutes. There was a high fence between them and
armed soldiers watched them.
Osama was
allowed to talk to his father. We asked the lawyer and the soldiers
if we were allowed to talk to Abdel and Osama but we were refused.
The lawyer
(the lawyer appointed by DCI-PS to handle the case could not attend
because of movement restrictions imposed on Palestinian residents of
the West Bank by the Israeli military.) told us that the agreement
of nine years’ imprisonment was “the best for the boys”. If they had
not reached an agreement maybe the two boys could have been
sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment. He also said that “it is
difficult for a lawyer to prove that a detainee has been subjected
to torture or ill treatment and it is risky to ask the prosecutor
for evidence because that could lead to an even harsher punishment”.
The two boys are on hunger-strike since one week.
Later on, the
lawyer appointed by DCI-PS told us that he thinks it was wrong to
accept the agreement of nine years of imprisonment due to the boys’
young age.
He also told
us about the following case. Rakan, a 12-year old boy, was arrested
on 29 September 2003 while traveling to his home in Jericho from
Bethlehem. Israeli troops detained him at the Container checkpoint
near Qeda settlement and took him to the police station in the
Ma´ale Adumim settlement where soldiers threatened him with electric
shocks. From Ma´ale Adumim, Rakan was transferred to Atzion
detention center near Bethlehem where he was put in solitary
confinement for 12 days in a cell that only measured 2x2
meters. In his affidavit to one of DCI´s lawyers, Rakan said that he
was so frightened during this period that he twice tried to commit
suicide. On 12 October he was moved to Ofer military prison. He
described what happened to him there: “When I arrived the
soldiers asked me to take off my clothes and I was standing in my
underwear. Then one of the soldiers took off even my underwear and
started to use the metal detector on my naked body. While he was
doing that he used his other hand to touch my body,
concentrating on my back and bottom. This continued for a while and
I was crying being terrified that something would happen”.
After this Rakan has twice again tried to commit suicide.
(After a
decision from the appeal court, Rakan was released from Ofer
military prison on 25th of December 2003.)
Conversation with the Israeli military prosecutor
The military
prosecutor Raid Shamali said that he was very well informed about
the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and before a
decision he always takes into consideration “the best for a child”.
He also said “look in these two heavy cases. I did not even ask for
the maximum sentence which is ten years of imprisonment”.
We suggested
to him that there should be a special court room for children. He
promised to talk to the judge about it. We gave him a copy of the
CRC in order to remind him of the rules concerning “the best for a
child”. He said that he remembered Birgitta Elfstrom, from a trial
in Bet El Military Court in Ramallah two years ago and the
discussions about the CRC.
Conversation with relatives of the detainees
A brother of
Abdel, who came to the court hearing, told us that their father
recently was sentenced to lifetime and the family’s two houses had
been demolished by IDF. Abdel got very furious about what happened
so he and his friend went out and tried to stab an Israeli wall
guard. The family’s houses are situated close to a kibbutz and to
the Wall, which has now been built around the area. After the
family’s houses were demolished they have to rent a house.
The brother is
allowed to visit Abdel in Telmond prison once every forth night.
Abdel has told him the following. He was severely beaten during the
interrogation and was taken to hospital for an operation on his
head. Even after the operation he was beaten on his head. The
conditions in the prison are very bad, only one meal a day, shortage
of clothes and medical care and poor education. For many days they
refused him to have a shower or to shave.
The father of
Osama said that he had asked for permission to visit his son in the
prison. He was refused but Osama’s mother got permission. Osama has
told his mother that he had asked the prison guard if he could see a
doctor but he was refused. Osama had been beaten during the
interrogation so severely that he had difficulties to stand on his
legs. Osama and Abdel are now in the same cell in Telmond prison.
Comments
The Military
Order #132 is contravening the internationally accepted definition
of a child as anyone below the age of 18. The Israeli domestic law
defines a child as anyone under 18, which is in accordance with the
international standard. The Israeli military order #132 is a
discrimination against Palestinian children.
In January
2001 a Palestinian girl child was sentenced by an Israeli Military
Court to six and a half years’ in prison on the charge of stabbing
an Israeli settler. At the same time, the Jerusalem district court
sentenced a 37 year-old Israeli settler, found guilty of brutally
beating to death an eleven year-old Palestinian boy, to six months’
community service and a fine of approx. 17.000 USD. (Alternative
Report to the State of Israel’s First Periodic Report to the
Committee on the Rights of the Child, submitted by DCI/Palestine
Section, March 2002)
In contrast to
Israeli children who are tried in Juvenile Courts, Palestinian
children are tried in the same Israeli Military Courts that try
adults. The Military Orders applying to them are much harsher than
the Israeli law applying to Israeli children. For the last 10 years,
Military Court practice has been to sentence convicted Palestinian
children over the age of 14 to imprisonment. There are even cases
where younger Palestinian children have been sentenced to
imprisonment. This is discrimination and contravenes
- article 2,
of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) which says
“States Parties shall respect and ensure the rights set forth in the
present Convention to each child within their jurisdiction without
discrimination of any kind…”
- the UN Rules
for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty, General
Assembly (GA) res. 45/113 which says , “Imprisonment should be used
as a last resort…” which is in line with article 37 b, CRC which
says “… shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the
shortest appropriate period of time”.
Our opinion is
that the Israeli Military Court does not take into consideration
“the best interest of a child” according to article 3, of the CRC
when they sentence young Palestinian children after a so called
“plea bargain” without any discussions with the parents of the
children. Israel has ratified the CRC but it has not implemented as
regards Palestinian Children in the Occupied Territories.
Article 37,
CRC says “No child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”. This is also in line
with the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), which Israel has ratified.
Article 2, CAT states ... “prevent acts of torture in any territory
under its jurisdiction”…
Article 33 of
the Fourth Geneva Convention provides (about collective punishment):
“No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has
not personally committed”. (This is further developed in the report
“In need of protection”, Al-Haq, page 177, ISBN 965-7022-25-8)
It is always
the children who are the most vulnerable in situation of conflict.
Art. 38 CRC, states “State Parties undertake to respect and to
ensure respect for rules of international humanitarian law…”
Israel does
not respect the Fourth Geneva Convention in the Occupied
Territories. But Palestinian people are protected under the Fourth
Geneva Convention (see Al Haq “In need of protection” page 13).
When we left
the military compound an Israeli military jeep arrived and we saw a
handcuffed and blindfolded man with foot chain sitting in the back
seat.
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Ofer
Military Court in Ramallah, 08/12/03
The trial took
place inside the Israeli military compound in the West Bank. The
court room and the procedure were almost the same as in Salem
Military Court but the hearing in Ofer court had three appointed
judges (two military male judges and one military female judge).
Case
Aysar Mohammed Maraka. Date of birth: 08/10/85. Date of arrest:
01/07/03. Facts about the case: DCI-PS informed us that there would
be three judges in the trial because of the many and complicated
charges. It was expected that Aysar would receive a sentence of at
least ten years’ imprisonment. Aysar was accused of being an
activist, involved in military training, stone throwing and pipe
bombing. He was also accused of trying to kill Israeli settlers and
planning to carry out a suicide operation.
The female
judge started to read the list of the charges. “You have been a
member of Hamas since 2002. Together with two activists you have
planned to make a suicide bomb. But another person should execute
the operation. You have trained twice on an M16 and on a
Kalashnikov. You have written a testament about a suicide operation
in the Ibrahim Mosque. Then you have planned to go to the Ibrahim
Mosque to kill Jewish people with an explosive belt but you failed
because your partner was arrested. You tried to find a Hamas member
who could carry out a suicide operation but you did not find any so
you dropped the plan. In April 2003 you found a cell of Hamas to do
it. You have made four explosive iron pipe bombs. You blew up one of
the bombs aimed at a military unit and one at a border police unit.
The third bomb did not work and the fourth was found in your house”.
Then the judge
summarized the charges: “You are a member of a hostile illegal
organization. You have trained on weapons and you have had
explosives in your house. Your intention was to kill deliberately”.
The lawyer
requested the judge to postpone the hearing in order to let him
study the charges. The lawyer also asked the judge to transfer Aysar
Maraka from Telmond prison to another prison because the conditions
in Telmond prison “are not good for such a young man as Aysar Maraka”.
The judge
decided to postpone the trial until 8th of January 2004,
and she said “if the problem in Telmond prison continues I will se
what can be done”.
Conversation with the DCI-PS lawyer after the trial
He informed us
that the female military judge has an education in law and the other
two judges are military officers. The lawyer’s opinion was that our
presence made great impression on the judges. They took time to
listen to his plea and the judges agreed willingly to postpone the
trial in order to let him study the charges.
Before the
above-mentioned trial we had the opportunity to observe, parts of
another trial concerning a 16 year-old boy. The boy told the judges
that no lawyer had visited him in the prison. The judge clearly said
that he had the right to meet a lawyer and even to change lawyer.
She asked him if he wanted to postpone the trial in order to see a
lawyer. The boy said it was difficult for him to decide this. The
judge said that the court had no other alternative than to postpone
the trial despite the fact that the boy had been in prison one year
without any progress in the case. She told the boy that he had to
meet a lawyer and to put pressure on the lawyer to act. The trial
was postponed until 19th of January 2004.
Another
Palestinian lawyer told us that in his opinion our presence in the
trial had made great impression on the judges. He had never before
heard judges so straightforwardly talking about a child’s right to
see a lawyer. He informed us that sometimes a judge and a prosecutor
can reach a very dubious agreement. They can e.g. agree to give one
person a very light sentence and instead give another person a very
severe punishment e.g. lifetime. His opinion was that Palestinian
children have better conditions in Israeli prisons in Israel than in
Israeli Detention Centers in the West Bank. Therefore many lawyers
do not complain about the transfers of detained Palestinian children
into Israeli territory. The situation concerning education in
Israeli prisons has improved.
Conversation with relatives of Aysar after the trial
The father of
Aysar Mohammed Maraka gave us the following information: He lives in
Hebron together with his wife and four children. His six brothers
with their families live in the same house. There are all together
17 children in the house. One night at 2.30 Israeli Defense Forces (IDF)
soldiers together with one Shabak (Hebrew acronym for Israel
Security Agency) officer and dogs broke into the house. They
searched the whole house and turned it upside-down. All the children
in the house got very scared. Still they suffer from this. Aysar was
arrested, blindfolded and handcuffed. After 28 days the family got
information from a released prisoner about Aysa.
Later the IDF
came back and searched the house once again. The father of Aysar did
not think that his son had planned any attack but maybe his son had
an idea of becoming a member of Fatah or Hamas. His son used a
weapon once in order to get some experience. Aysar was excellent in
his studies and planned to continue his studies at a university.
Aysar’s father has not been allowed to visit his son in the prison.
He saw him in the court three months ago but was not allowed to talk
to him. Before this trial started he was able to talk to his son for
some minutes. Aysar told his father that he had headache and then he
asked if he had passed his exam. The father said “yes” and then
pointed at us and said “they are jurists from Sweden and will
follow your case”. Aysar smiled.
Aysar’s father
had no permission from the Israeli Authority to travel from his
house in Hebron to the Ofer Military Court in the West Bank. He had
to travel illegally. If the police stopped him on the way back to
Hebron he would be arrested. He said that the Palestinian children
are suffering a lot because of the Israeli occupation of the West
Bank and Gaza. He was very thankful that “Sweden has turned its eyes
on the situation for the Palestinian children”.
Comments
According to
article 10, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and
article 14, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights (ICCPR) everyone shall be entitled to a fair and public
hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal
established by law”./ …/
“In the
determination of any criminal charge against him, everyone shall be
entitled to the following minimum guarantees, in full equality:
(a) To be
informed promptly and in detail in a language which he understands
of the nature and cause of the charge against him;
(b) To have
adequate time and facilities for the preparation of his defence and
to communicate with counsel of his own choosing;”
Article 37,
CRC states “the right to have access to a lawyer, to a quick answer
and the right to have contact with the family”. Article 37 also
states “no child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
We do not
consider it to be a fair trial when a judge and a prosecutor agree
to give one person a light punishment and then give another person a
severe punishment. It was however a positive sign that the military
judge mentioned “the rights of a child”.
Ofer
Military Court in Jerusalem, 10/12/03
Case 1
Yousouf Khalil Muteir, age 15, from Al Azariyya in the West Bank,
date of arrest 27/10/03. Facts about the case: DCI-PS told us that
the charges were: activism, helping the organization, stone
throwing, planning with friends to kill Israeli civilians.
Confession was extorted from pressure and torture.
One of the
three judges asked Yousouf to stand up in the court. The lawyer
immediately requested the court to postpone the hearing because he
had got the written charges from the court only some minutes before
the hearing. He insisted on the importance to study the charges
before the hearing.
The judges
agreed and the hearing was postponed. A new hearing will take place
15/02/04.
Conversation with the DCI-PS lawyer after the trial
The lawyer
Mohammed informed us about the following:
He was able to
visit Yousuf three days after his arrest. Yousuf told him that he
was arrested on 27th of October 2003 at 02.30 in the
morning, blindfolded and transferred to the prison in Male Adumim
settlement. During the interrogation they put a hood on his head and
he was severely beaten with a stick on his head. They connected
wires to his body and gave him electric shocks. Again he was beaten
in order to extort a confession from him. He confessed. The lawyer
did not think that the boy had committed any crimes. He and his
friend had only thought about capturing a settler, but this was only
in their minds. They had no real plans for this.
Yousuf was
than transferred to Kfar Azion prison, which is infamous for its
torture methods. There he was severely beaten. He was handcuffed
behind his back and hanged up with a rope. Later on he was placed in
solitary confinement for four days. Those days were like
psychological torture for him. The cell was 1x1,5 meter. They
refused him to go to the toilet. He got a very little food. They
pounded on the door the whole nights so he could not sleep and the
soldiers played discordant music. After those four days he was
placed in a cell together with another prisoner.
The lawyer had
requested the manager of the prison to not keep Yousuf in a solitary
confinement. The manager said that they had no other place for the
boy. After one month they transferred Yousuf to Telmond prison
where he now stays together with other young boys in a large cell.
The lawyer’s
opinion is that Palestinian children should have the same right to a
probation officer or a social worker as Israeli children. The
Israeli Military Court sentences a Palestinian child from the West
Bank based on the age of the day of the court hearing and not the
age of the child when he/she committed a crime. An Israeli child
will be sentenced according to the age when he/she commits a crime.
Conversation with the father of Yousef after the trial
The father of
Yousef, Khalil Mutier gave the following information.
One night at
around one o’clock the front door was flung open and 30 soldiers and
Shabak men rushed into the house and searched the whole house. His
son was sleeping on the upper floor but the soldiers woke him up,
blindfolded him, handcuffed him and took him to their army vehicle.
His son was very afraid and told his father that he had done
nothing. The soldiers did not find any evidence in the house. His
seven-year old daughter became so afraid that she fainted. He
contacted the Prisoners’ Club in order to get information about his
son. After four days he got some information. He asked the Israeli
authority to get permission to visit his son but they refused. In
the court room they were not allowed to shake hands, hug or
kiss each other. His son said “Why is my mother not here?
Please send me a photo of my sisters and brothers”. He saw that his
son was not in good health.
Comments
Since the
beginning of the second Intifada, Israeli authorities have detained
at least 2.000 children. As of 1 December 2003, approximately 360
Palestinian children, ages 12-18, are currently detained in Israeli
prisons and detention centers mainly within Israel (statistic from
DCI-PS).
The
Palestinian children are tried before and sentenced by Israeli
military courts, although the Palestinian Authority has a juvenile
justice system that can deal with children in conflict with the law.
The Israeli military courts implement military orders and not
juvenile related legislation. Unlike Palestinian child detainees,
Israeli children who are in conflict with the law are dealt with by
the Israeli juvenile justice system (information from DCI-PS
lawyer). This is also discrimination against Palestinian children.
Palestinian
child detainees are subjected to different forms of torture, cruel
and inhuman treatment including beatings, sleep and food
deprivation, position abuse, isolation-while undergoing
interrogation. During the interrogation the child is not permitted
to contact a lawyer or a relative. Lawyers are denied access during
this period and it is very difficult to find out where a child is
being held.
In our opinion
every Palestinian child detainee is immediately in need of an
International Child Protector from the very first day of arrest,
during the interrogation period and in prison. Before this can be in
effect at least every arrested Palestinian child should have the
right to an independent probation officer/social worker during the
above-mentioned period.
Article 37,
CRC states “No child shall be subjected to torture” and “arrest,
detention or imprisonment of a child shall be conformity with the
law and shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the
shortest appropriate period of time” and “have the right to maintain
contact with his or her family”.
Article 40,
CRC states “to be informed promptly and directly of the charges
against him or her, if appropriate through his or her parents or
legal guardians, and to have legal or other appropriate assistance
in the preparations and presentation of his or her defense”.
Article 40.3,
CRC states “State Parties shall seek to promote the establishment of
laws, procedures, authorities and institutions specifically
applicable to children alleged as, accused of, or recognized as
having infringed the penal law….”
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THE IMPACT OF
SETTLEMENTS, CHECKPOINTS, ROADBLOCKS,
THE WALL AND HOUSE DEMOLITIONS
Settlements in Hebron district
Qiryat Arba’ Giv’at Harsina Tel Rumeida
Beit
Hadassa Avraham
Avino Osama Ben
Munqes
Megdal Oz Metsad Asfar
Ashkiliot
Metsad Shem’on
Beni Hefer
Otnael Karmiel
Ma’oun
Susya Beit Ya’er
Shani Livneh
Sham’a
Tana
Amarin
Ma’oun
Susya
Nahal Nagahout Adora
Telem Karme Tzur
Testimony
of Sawsan Abu Turki, age 16
I live in
Hebron and every day, since many years, we are facing violence from
settlers and Israeli soldiers. One day in September 2000 I
was attacked by a group of settlers in the center of Hebron. I was
injured and people took me to hospital. Then I asked myself why
settlers and Israeli soldiers always have the right to insult and
beat us and why we do not have the right to defend ourselves. After
that I felt I could not tolerate more violence and inhuman
treatment. In my opinion Palestinians should have the same rights as
settlers and soldiers, but we do not have.
My school is
situated close to a settlement and has often been attacked by
settlers who throw stones. The school has also been attacked by
soldiers with bombs and tear gas. The 6th of September
2001, I went to school as usual but I took a knife with me in my
bag. When I was on my way back home from school I went in front of a
soldier and I held the knife behind my back. The soldier became
suspicious and tried to catch me when I ran away. I heard soldiers
shooting behind me. They caught me after half an hour. They
humiliated me by bad words and told me not to talk to anybody
who stood nearby. If I did they threatened to kill me. They put me
in a military jeep and took me to Kiriat Arba settlement. There they
left me outside a military police station under the hot sun during
one and a half hour. I got headache and my nose started bleeding. I
felt I was going to faint. Later, during the interrogation, they
shouted at me and started to hit me and asked who supported me. I
asked them if I could call my parents but I was not allowed. Later
they transferred me to Abu Kibir prison in Tel Aviv and during the
three- hour transport the soldiers said bad words to me. In Abu
Kibir prison the Israeli General Security Service, Shabak started to
interrogate me and they also hit me all over the body with
their hands and with a hard plastic cable. This method continued
for 20 days. After these days they transferred me to Ramle prison
and put me in a dark solitary confinement for eight days and
nights. They tied my hands and legs very hard to the bed
during the nights because, in their opinion, I was a very dangerous
person. Later I was moved to a cell together with criminal adults
and this affected me badly. One day a criminal Russian Jewish woman
burned me with a cigarette on my back. This hurt me a lot. I still
have scars on my back. The soldiers used tear gas in the cell and
this hurt my eyes a lot and it smelled like fried chicken in the
cell. Sometimes they cut off the water supply. They did not
let me talk to a social worker as my lawyer demanded. It was a very
hard time for me as a girl to be under arrest and to be subject to
torture.
My parents
were not informed about my arrest until after 7 days and I
was not allowed to see a lawyer until after 20 days. My
parents were not allowed to visit me in the prisons. I could not
continue my studies because there was no teacher and no library in
the prisons.
They brought
me before a military judge about 25 times. Every time they said that
the trial was postponed. At last the military judge in Bet El
settlement sentenced me to four and a half months’ imprisonment,
five years’ suspended sentence and 15 000 shekel fine. The judge
forbade me to go back to my school and I was put in house arrest for
one and a half year. I was released from the prison on 4th of
January 2002.
My parents
supported me very much and helped me so I was able to continue my
studies in another school. Today I am in a DCI-PS training course in
order to strengthen my self-confidence. I am also a volunteer in the
Red Crescent. My dream is to become a nurse or a journalist. But
still I suffer a lot from the very bad treatment in the prisons. I
am still in need of medical treatment but the medicine is very
expensive and my parents cannot afford it.
Testimony
of Islam Monzer Dana, age 12 from Hebron
I and my
sister Susan, age 9, now live with our parents, two sisters and two
brothers in our great grandfather’s house in Hebron. Our family’s
house is next to this building but we cannot live there because of
an Israeli settlement opposite our house. The settlers often throw
stones and even shoot at our house. Even girl settlers throw
stones. We are not allowed to use the settlers’ road but sometimes
when we do not see any soldiers we take that road because it is only
15 minutes walk to our school. If we cannot take that road we have
to walk over the hills to our school and it takes us more than one
hour to reach the school. One day in September 2003 we could not see
any soldiers or settlers so we chanced it and took the settlers
road. Coming half way to school soldiers came running after us. We
started running for our lives. My sister dropped one of her shoes
and her school bag. One of the soldiers grabbed my sister by her
hair and clothes so she fell to the ground. She started screaming
very frightened. I turned back to defend my sister and tried to get
off the soldiers but they started to hit us and threatened us with
their guns. This was very frightening and painful. We managed to run
away from the soldiers. We stood still behind a house about 10
minutes and decided not to go back home because we were very afraid
of being caught again. Then we rushed into the nearest house. The
woman in the house gave us protection and helped us to take another
way to our school. Since that day I and my sister have to take a
long way to school, instead of the short way we used to walk. From
that day we are very afraid of soldiers and we are scared to go to
friends houses in case something happens.
The girls’
father told us that his family is often harassed by the IDF (Israeli
Defense Forces). Since 2002 there is an IDF watchtower opposite his
house. Very often the soldiers are coming during nighttime to search
the whole house and sometimes they use the roof of the house as a
watchtower. His house was built three years ago on his grandfather’s
land but the family cannot live in it. It is too dangerous because
of the settlers and soldiers.
None of the
family members dare to stand before the windows facing the
settlement because all are afraid of being shot at. He has seen
soldiers picking up stones for settlers who throw them on his house.
His two daughters are very afraid after what have happened to them.
They have nightmares. When soldiers are coming they start running
into the house and hide themselves very quickly. The family has no
other choice than to live in Hebron as generations before they have
done. The settlers came in 1968 and built houses on occupied land.
Top
House
demolitions
Mr Jakob Aouda
from Land Research Center (LRC) in Jerusalem informed us about the
latest house demolitions and land confiscations in East Jerusalem.
The LRC is a branch of the Arab Studies Society (ASS). Together with
him we visited some of these places. At first he gave us written
information from the Land Research Center about the following. On
the 6th of February 2002 LRC got an order from Israeli
Security Forces to close the office under the pretext of being
affiliated to the Palestinian Authority. IDF confiscated all the
office contents, including archives, library, computer network and
floppy discs. LRC and ASS hold the Israeli authorities responsible
for any loss of materials and documents, which belong to partner,
organizations and founders, particularly the European Union.
House
demolition in East Jerusalem
House
demolitions were carried out during three days in April 2003 in East
Jerusalem as follows.
On 2nd
of April 2003
- 2 houses
were destroyed in Beit Hanina.
On 3rd
of April 2003
- 8 houses,
one barrack, walls and yards were destroyed in Sur Baher
- 1 house was
demolished for the fourth time in the village of Anata Salam
- 1 house was
demolished in Al Zuaim village
- 1 house was
demolished in the village of Qatana
On 6th
of April 2003
- 10
houses were destroyed in Al Issawiya Quarters
The total
number of people who became homeless of the aforementioned
demolitions is 144, including 75 children under the age of 16. The
total area of the destroyed houses is 3.380 square meters, while the
total area of the destroyed walls and yards is 2.540 square meters.
Testimony
of Mohammed Sayad
I am married
and live on the Mount of Olive. I was born in East Jerusalem like my
father, grandfather and great grandfather. I built a two-storied
house with six apartments for my family but without a license from
the Israeli Authority. On the 23 of September 2003 an Israeli army
bulldozer destroyed my house completely with all furniture and other
belongings. About 100 soldiers in 20 military cars closed the area
around the house. No TV or journalists were allowed to enter the
area. The Israeli Authority did not inform me about the demolition.
They should inform 72 hours before in accordance with law. My family
and I were not in the house at that time. One neighbor called me and
told me what had happened. Only my house was destroyed at that time.
I have been
working for the UN more than 42 years as a teacher but now I am
retired. All what I had saved, at least 150.000 USD, has gone.
If I had asked for a license to build a house the Israeli Authority
would never have granted me a license. Almost 90 % of the houses in
East Jerusalem are built without a license. If someone applies for a
license it takes five years to get an answer. A license costs about
25.000 USD. The Jewish people do not need to pay for a license and
they have to wait only six months for an answer. Almost all of the
Jewish people get a positive answer but none Palestinian. Some
months before my house was destroyed I heard on TV that a house
cannot be destroyed before the owner has been informed about it. The
worst thing is not that my house has been destroyed. The house
demolition caused damage in my heart of hearts. I ask myself what’s
going on in Palestine. Maybe it is a war crime? Why is the world so
silent?
Testimony
of Imad Abu Mahdi
I was born in
East Jerusalem like my ancestors. On the 1st of June
2002, I got my house completely destroyed because I had built it
without a license. I built a new 200 square meter house on the same
ground. I got an order from the Israeli municipality to destroy this
house no later than 27th of August 2003. I did not follow
the order. One morning at 6.30, Israeli soldiers with dogs entered
into my house and searched the whole house. My children woke up.
They were very fearful and started to cry and the youngest one
started to wee-wee (pee). I called for some workers to help me to
take out our belongings. One soldier tried to steal a gold chain
from one of my children’s room. The bulldozer started to hit the
balcony. My youngest son, four years old, said to me “tell him not
to hit the house it is better to dig in the ground”. One of my
children was very anxious about her birds and asked me if her room
should be destroyed. The police officer gave an order to stop the
house demolition but the man who was responsible for the demolition
said it was necessary to continue because it should be very
dangerous to leave the house like it was.
House
demolition in Ramallah
The 1st of
December 2003 Israeli Defense Force demolished a four-storied
building in Ramallah. A social worker from Al Haq took us to the
place and informed us that a Palestinian man wanted by IDF had
visited a family in the house. The Israeli soldiers had surrounded
the building and began to indiscriminately fire heavy machine guns
at the ground floor of the building. Then the Israeli forces
detonated several explosive devices inside the building. Two male
civilians were killed by the explosion. Eight families including
many young children became homeless. Three houses in the
neighborhood were also almost totally destroyed.
House
demolition in Bethlehem
Seven blocks
of flats in Beit Sahour were quite recently built by the Palestinian
Authority, supported by the State of Japan. The Israeli
Authority has now decided that these houses have to be destroyed at
the latest by midsummer 2005 because the houses are too close to the
Wall/fence and to an Israeli settlement.
The Wall
Israel is
building the Wall from the northwest to the southwest of the West
Bank, in most cases inside the 1967 Green Line; The Wall is not
being built on, or in most cases even near the Green
Line. The Israeli government has proposed a second wall from the
northeast to southeast west of the Jordan Valley. The Wall is
expected to be at least 360 kilometers long maybe up to 750
kilometers. The Wall will be composed of various sections, of which
the Wall will be either concrete and /or barbed wire. The concrete
Wall will average eight meters high with armed concrete watchtowers,
and a buffer zone of 30 to 100 meter wide to make way for electric
fences, trenches, cameras, sensors and security patrols. The Wall’s
buffer zone has been deemed as a military no-man’s land, paving the
way for large-scale demolition. The Wall is located in many places
only meters from homes, shops and schools. If completed without the
expansions: 95.000 Palestinians will be isolated, 4,5 % of the West
Bank population. About 200.000 in East Jerusalem will be totally
isolated from the rest of the West Bank. The Israeli
Government/settlers’ proposal to modify the Wall will isolate
another 110.000 Palestinians for a total of 405.000 isolated behind
the Wall, including East Jerusalem.
The social
impact of the Wall is, of course, closely integrated with the
political, economic and environmental, in fact, they are all
intertwined. The Wall is designed to divide the population along
racial lines by creation of separate reserves and ghettos. The
movement between the northern and southern West Bank is extremely
difficult.
Land
confiscation and uprooted trees
At least 10%
of the West Bank will be confiscated by and for Israel because of
the route of the Wall. Some 150.000 dunums-2 % of the West Bank -
are to be confiscated in the northern or “first phase” of the Wall,
under the Israeli self-declared “security zone”. At some points the
Wall is being built 6 km inside the Green Line. The path of the
Wall’s first phase, which has been modified various times in favour
of confiscating more land and annexing additional settlements, takes
a route that annexes 10 settlements and the most fertile land of 30
villages in the northern West Bank. The Yesha Council of settlers
proposed alternation for the Wall, from Qalqilya to northern
Jerusalem, will bring the total number of settlers annexed to Israel
to 343.000. As of December 2002, some 11.500 dunums of land have
been razed for the footprint of the Wall, including the uprooting of
83.000 trees. Since the beginning of the second Intifada, in October
2000, thousands of acres of farm land and over 112.000 olive trees
in the Palestinian Territories have been uprooted by the Israeli
Army and settlers. These destructive practices continue daily.
The life
in cities and villages in the north of the West Bank
Jayyous
The Wall
wriggles and sprawls to swallow much of the land of Jayyous. Its
footprint in the town of Jayyous alone will require the destruction
of 500 dunums. The Wall, built well within the territory of the West
Bank rather than on the internationally recognized 1967 border, will
effectively depose 9.000 dunums, 2.500 of which are irrigated
croplands. This will result in the loss of over 120 green houses,
over 15.000 olive trees, 50.000 citrus trees, 6 ground water wells
(the village’s main source of water) and livestock pasture. This
land not only supports 550 village families but also provides
products to 60.000 inhabitants of the West Bank.
Top
Qalqilia
The mayor of
Qalqilia, Maa’rouf Zahran gave us the following information. The
governorate of Qalqilia is comprised of 32 villages with
approximately 85.000 Palestinians and 19 illegal Israeli’s colonies
with an estimated illegal Israeli settler population of 50.700.
Qalqilia has a history of very good relations with Israel both
with joint business and home to home relations. The business
relation was very successful. But 1996 Israel started to uproot
trees without noticing people. This led to demonstrations with
killed and injured people. Israel started with ring roads and said
it was just temporary. Israel does not say that they are
confiscating land. They say “we put our hands on the land for
security reason”. Qalqilia tried to stop the confiscation but the
High Court of Justice said it is a question for the Ministry of
Defense to answer. But the Ministry said it is in the hand of the
Cabinet. Today farmers have to ask Israel authority for a
permission to come to their own land on the other side of the
Wall. Many of them will never get permission. Israel has
built huge water pipe lines from Qalqilia into Israel. This has led
to water shortage in Qalqilia so we have to buy our own water from
Israel.
Around
Qalqilia there are 32 villages in three enclaves. Because of the
Wall, Qalqilia and the villages are isolated from each other. From
media we have heard that Sharon promised to build a tunnel but it
has not been built yet.
The Wall has
great impact on the economical situation. 600 stores have closed.
6.000 people used to work in Israel but no one is allowed to work in
Israel today. About 80 % of the population of Qalqilia is depending
on UNRWA relief and 5.000 people have moved from Qalqilia. There is
only one entrance into the city and there is an Israeli
checkpoint. Children from villages around the town have to pass this
check point to reach their school. Sometimes the soldiers
close the checkpoint and children cannot reach their school. Instead
of 500 meters walk to school many children today have more than
three kilometers walk because of the Wall.
In August 2002
the Israeli government announced its plans for the Wall surrounding
Qalqilia. The Wall will not be on the Israeli border but within the
occupied West Bank. The eight-meter high Wall is surrounded firstly
by a trench, 4 meters wide and 2 meters deep, then barbed wire and
lastly a military road that will be patrolled by the Israeli army.
The mayor’s
opinion is that people can accept the Wall but it must be built on
the Green Line and not on Palestinian land. Today Israel takes
Palestinian land and water. This will create more violence against
Israel. Israel’s policy is destroying the Palestinians hope of an
independent state. Israel is extending settlements and is connecting
these with new highways and by-pass roads.
Jenin
Information
from a person in Jenin who, for security reasons, wishes to remain
anonymous: Today Jenin has only one entrance, which is controlled by
Israeli soldiers. The soldiers at the checkpoint are armed with
rifles, heavy machine guns and armored vehicles and tanks.
Jenin has a
population of 37.000 inhabitants. Out of this 13.000 live in the
Jenin camp and they are 1948-refugees registered by UNRWA. In April
2002, Jenin was attacked by the Israeli army. From the hills above,
tanks shelled the refugee camp and Apache helicopters fired the camp
from the air. About 13.000 Israeli soldiers entered the city. The
soldiers searched houses and shot to death some children and
adults. They blocked the entrance to the hospital and threatened to
kill everyone who tried to leave or enter the hospital.
After the
attack, big bulldozers, D-9, totally demolished 485 houses. Many
other houses were partly damaged. During the attack 56 people were
killed. Some of these were run over by tanks and bulldozers and were
completely crushed. About 2.500 people became homeless. Many people
were seriously injured and 112 became disabled. Because of
roadblocks and curfews these people have difficulties to travel into
Jenin for treatment. Jenin community has therefore opened three
rehabilitation centers for disabled people in villages around Jenin.
Today many are in need of psychological treatment. Jenin is in need
of specialized doctors in orthopedics, pediatrics, gynecology,
physiotherapy as well as psychologists for children. Jenin is also
in need of a hospital. Many women are in need of
income-generating projects. They became widows after the invasion.
The life in Jenin is very hard, especially in the refugee camp.
There is almost no opportunity to work and some families have
shortage of food. There is no security. The police station is
totally demolished and there are no police in the city. We have no
protection at all. Israeli soldiers enter the city almost daily.
Since the attack the children are playing with plastic guns and
slingshots. They have no playground. The children’s future is
black.
Checkpoints/roadblocks
Since
September 2000, the State of Israel has imposed sweeping movement
restrictions on the civilian population in the Occupied
Territories, which have had the effect of isolating individual
communities. A closure is imposed through the placing of checkpoints
or other types of manned or unmanned barriers around a place with
the aim of either prohibiting movements between that place and other
areas, or making movement from that place to other areas as tedious
as possible. Movement between different Palestinian villages and
towns within the West Bank becomes almost impossible with primary
roads blocked by Israeli soldiers and physical barriers placed on
many secondary roads.
For
Palestinians to travel with their own vehicle becomes almost
impossible. They are forced to travel on makeshift dirt paths in
order to avoid military checkpoints. Attending places of work and
education may be impossible and medical personnel have often been
prevented from reaching villages or towns in other areas. Closure
affects the Palestinian society on a number of levels. The
Palestinian economy is heavily reliant on access to Israel markets
in terms of employment and material. Any measure that inhibits that
access is bound to have a deleterious effect on the Palestinian
economy.
Ambulances
Any
prohibition on movement severely affects those in need of emergency
care. Many women have been obliged to give birth at or near
checkpoints because Israeli soldiers have forbidden them to pass.
Many medical emergency cases have been prevented from evacuating to
a hospital outside their own residential area. People have died at
checkpoints because of this. The same day as we visited Bethlehem we
heard that three ambulances were prevented to pass the checkpoint
out of Bethlehem to Hebron. The ambulances with their 17 very sick
people had been waiting three hours to get a permission to pass. We
had a discussion with the Israeli military captain in charge at the
checkpoint. After about 30 minutes he let them pass.
Top
Comments
Article 24,
2b, CRC states…“to ensure the provision of necessary medical
assistance and health care to all children ...”
Article 27, 1,
CRC states…”State Parties recognize the right of every child to a
standard of living adequate for the child’s physical, mental,
spiritual, moral and social development”.
Article 31,
CRC states “…the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage
in play and recreational activities….”
International
law prohibits acquisition of territory by force. Both the
confiscation and destruction of land and the building of the Wall
violate the Palestinian people’s Right to Property, Right to Work,
Right to Adequate Standard of Living and Right to Freedom of
Movement, as guaranteed by international law.
The occupying
power is prohibited from confiscating private property, which is
clearly stated in article 23, of The Hague Regulations. Article 53
of the Fourth Geneva Convention, to which Israel is a signatory,
forbids the destruction of private property unless the destruction
is necessary for imperative military needs. The UN Security Council
has in several resolutions reaffirmed that the Geneva Convention
relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12
August 1949 is applicable to the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including Jerusalem, and other Arab territories occupied by Israel
since 1967.
Article 16,
Fourth Geneva Convention states “The wounded and sick, as well as
the infirm, and expectant mother, shall be the object of particular
protection and respect”.
Article 33,
The Fourth Geneva Convention states “no protected person may be
punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed”.
Destruction or
seizure of property in Occupied Territories is forbidden as a
collective punishment. Moreover, such extensive destruction of
private property carried out wantonly and without genuine military
necessity is a grave breach to article 147, of the Fourth Geneva
Convention.
The occupying
power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian
population into the territory it occupies, article 49, Fourth Geneva
Convention.
Article 55,
the Hague Regulations, “The occupying state shall be regarded only
as administrator and usufructuary of public buildings real estate,
forests, and agricultural estates belonging to the hostile state,
and situated in the occupied country.
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