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Key Figures
and Facts:
·
At least 2500 children have been subjected to arrest since Sept
2000.
·
391 Palestinian children under 18 years are still detained in
Israeli detention centers. While More than 400 prisoners exceeded
age 18 in prison.
·
7% of child prisoners suffer diseases and denied medical care.
·
50% of child prisoners from rural areas.
·
77% of child prisoners arrested from their homes.
·
25%
of child prisoners from
Nablus area.
·
83% of child Prisoners are school students.
·
Average family size of child prisoners is 9 members.
·
74% of child prisoners belong to families with 7-12 members.
·
41% of child prisoners belong to families with very low income.
Since the
outbreak of Al Aqsa Intifada in September 2000, more than 2500
Palestinian children have been arrested. 391 children are still
prisoned in Israeli prisons and detention facilities. Most of them
are held within the Israeli proper far from their place of
residency. While about 400 Palestinian prisoners exceed age 18 in
prison.
Prisoners
without Rights:
The conditions
in which the Palestinian children are held are below the minimum
standards laid down by the UN (CRC and Beijing rules)
and the Fourth Geneva Convention. The incarceration conditions of
children have been deteriorating at an alarming scale, to the extent
that the lives of the children are threatened.
The
international human rights instruments lay down a series of
guarantees to people who are arrested or detained. These guarantees
must be applied to all without discrimination on the basis of race,
colour, sex, language, religion, political opinion, social origins,
birth or other status.
These
guarantees include among others: the right not to be arbitrary
arrested; the right to be informed of the reason of arrest; the
right of access to lawyers; the right to inform or have informed
their families of their arrest and place of detention; the right to
be brought promptly before a judge; the right to challenge the
lawfulness of detention; the right to have access to the outside
world; and the right to be treated with humanity and respect for the
inherent dignity of the human being.
Few
Palestinian living in the OPT who have been arrested or detained by
Israeli occupation authorities enjoy these rights. Palestinians
arrested by Israeli security services are under a system of military
justice.
Children
Arrest As the First Resort:
Israeli
Occupation Authorities don’t deprive Palestinian children from their
freedom as a measure of last resort and for a minimum period of time
(Article 37 of the CRC), instead of that, Palestinian children are
being arrested as the first resort and imprisoned for long periods
of time.
The
Palestinian child prisoners are subjected to various forms of
inhuman and cruel treatment-including beatings, sleep and food
deprivation, position abuse (Shabeh), threatening language
(including threats of death, sexual assault, and/or threats on
his/her life or that of family members) and isolation-while
undergoing interrogation by Israeli General Security Services, the
Military Intelligence, or the Police. During interrogation
Palestinian children are denied a contact with a lawyer or a
relative. Lawyers are denied access during this period, and it is
in fact very difficult to find out where a child is being held.
Military
Orders and racial Discrimination:
The
Palestinian child prisoners 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
prisoners, Israeli children who are in conflict with the law are
dealt with through the Israeli juvenile justice system.
According to
Israeli military orders, a Palestinian child is any person who has
not yet attained the age of 16 years, while article 2 of the Israeli
juvenile Offenders Ordinance defines an Israeli child as any person
who has not yet attained the age of 18 years.
Disproportionate Imprisonment:
Disproportionate imprisonment sentences are the only treatment
disposition rendered under by the Israeli
Military Court. There is a Palestinian child who has been sentenced
to life imprisonment, 3 children are sentenced for 15 years, 4
children sentenced for 5-9 years. The rest of children were
sentenced to 6-18 months for the charge of throwing stones in
addition to financial bills of 250-1500 Us Dollars.
Sick Child
Prisoners:
The Ministry
records show that among the child prisoners, there are 30 sick
children. This means that around 7% of the child detainees are
suffering different diseases. The sick detainees are denied access
to medical care and at the same time the Israeli authorities do not
medically serve them.
The records
show that 41.6% of theses diseases resulted directly or indirectly
from the deteriorating unhealthy and inhuman incarceration
conditions.
In general,
child prisoners do not receive adequate and appropriate medical
treatment. Acamol is prescribed for every disease. The prison
authorities do not address themselves to the poor hygienic
conditions in the children’s cells. Scabies, an infectious disease
is present in most prisons. The children, who are frequently
transferred from a prison to another, continuously transmit the
disease to each prison. The prison authorities do not follow the
doctors’ instructions for disinfecting the cells and the bedding.
Meanwhile, the
child detainees suffer from diseases that are directly resulted from
hard conditions of incarceration: rheumatic (from cold and damp
cells), asthma (from poor ventilation), and hemorrhoids (from too
heavily spiced food).
Distribution of child prisoners in detention centers up to October
2004
|
Prison/
Detention Centre |
Number
of child prisoners |
|
Hasharon(Telmond) |
81 |
|
Ofek
Hasharon |
15 |
|
Ramleh
prison and Hospital |
6 |
|
Ofer |
55 |
|
Keseot(Naqab) |
49 |
|
Meggeddo |
62 |
|
Salim |
11 |
|
Qadomim |
6 |
|
Hewwarah |
15 |
|
Jalameh |
3 |
|
Betah
Tekva |
7 |
|
Asqalan |
3 |
|
Etzion |
33 |
|
Russian
Compound(Masqobeyya) |
13 |
|
Benyamin |
32 |
Child
Prisoners According Type of Imprisonment
|
Imprisonment |
Number |
|
Pending
Trial |
270 |
|
Sentenced |
101 |
|
Without
Charge(Administrative Detention) |
20 |
Child
Prisoners According to Governorates:
As for the
distribution of Detainees according to Place of residency, it’s as
follows:
|
Governorate |
Number
of Child Prisoners |
|
Jerusalem |
27 |
|
Hebron |
75 |
|
Tulkarem |
22 |
|
Jenin |
57 |
|
Nablus |
98 |
|
Bethlehem |
50 |
|
Ramallah |
53 |
|
Qalqelyah |
4 |
|
Salfit |
5 |
Child
Detainees According to their Current Age:
|
Age by
Yeras |
Number
of Detainees |
|
12-14 |
5 |
|
>14-16 |
95 |
|
>16-18 |
291 |
Children
According to Year of Arrest
|
Year |
Number
of Prisoners |
|
2001 |
1 |
|
2002 |
21 |
|
2003 |
123 |
|
2004 |
246 |
Child
Prisoners According to Place of Arrest
|
Place
of Arrest |
Percentage |
|
Family
House |
77% |
|
Street |
17% |
|
Military
Checkpoint |
5% |
|
Near
Settlement or Inside Israel |
1% |
Child
Prisoners According to Charges( out of 163 file)
|
Charge |
Percentage |
|
Without
Charge(Administrative) |
10% |
|
Stone
Throwing |
40% |
|
Possession
and/or throwing Molotov Cocktail |
7% |
|
Membership
of “banned groups” |
9% |
|
Attempted
Killing Israelis |
7% |
|
Possession
of weapons/explosives |
7% |
|
Attempted
suicide bombing |
20% |
Socio-Economic Status of Child Prisoners:
Children
According to Origins
|
Place
of Origin |
Percentage |
|
Rural
Areas |
50% |
|
Refugee
Camps |
15% |
|
Urban
Areas |
35% |
Children
According to family Size
|
Family
Size (members) |
Percentage |
|
1-6
members |
14% |
|
7-12 |
74% |
|
13-18 |
7% |
|
More than
18 |
5% |
Children
According to Career
|
Career |
Percentage |
|
School
student |
83% |
|
Laborer |
14% |
|
Without
Career |
3% |
Incarceration
Conditions in Israeli prisons and Detention Centers
Most of
Palestinian child detainees are currently held in Israeli jails and
detention centers mainly within Israel
proper. This means that the children are being held far from their
place of residency.
Family visits
are very rare due to Israeli policies and procedures and total siege
imposed on the Palestinian territories. As for the lawyers’ visits,
if he/she is allowed to visit his/her client, this should take place
in the presence of at least two officers who usually understand
Arabic and keep asking them to finish. This new regulation clearly
infringes the confidentiality of the lawyer-client relationship and
puts both the lawyer and the detainee under great pressure and sense
of discomfort.
Children are
held around the clock in their small, overcrowded, poorly ventilated
cells. They can only leave the cells for an hour in the morning and
one hour in the evening. They eat, sleep and pass day in their
cells.
They have no
program of activity, with very few recreational outlets or
equipment. They spend day after day in their cells without anything
to do. This is an exceedingly difficult situation for young and
active youths.
Child
detainees in the Israeli detention centers are totally isolated from
the outside world; they are not allowed to watch TV, listen to the
radio or read newspapers, noting that very few of them are allowed
visits from their families and lawyers as in the manner mentioned
earlier.
The child
detainees suffer from the lack of sufficient beds. They sleep on
the floor on thin mattresses and rotate between the floor and the
beds. The cells do not get enough fresh air. The children suffer
from a sense of suffocation, particularly the asthmatic patient
patients in the summer.
The prison
meals are not adequate for growing youths. Often there is not
enough food or the food is spoiled or highly spiced.
As for
incarceration conditions per detention center, it’s as follows:
|
Detention Centre |
Conditions |
|
Etzion |
§
Shortage in the quantity and quality of food
§
Absence of cleanliness due to the lack of detergents.
§
Rare bathing due to the lack of hot water.
§
Damp and humid detention quarters due to water leak.
§
Spread of insects and widespread of skin diseases.
§
Over crowdedness of quarters [15 in each quarter]
|
|
BenYamin |
§
Malnutrition and shortage of food
§
Absence of medical care [Spread of ulcer, flue, and pneumonia].
§
Shortage of winter clothing.
§
Coldness.
§
Spread of skin and stomach diseases.
§
Over crowdedness [48 child detainees]. |
|
Meggeddo |
§
Shortage of food
§
Absence of instructors
§
Lack of clothing.
§
Coldness.
§
Detention of children with adults.
§
Over crowdedness [20 children in a tent].
§
A large number of children are prevented from parents’ visits.
§
Absence of social workers.
§
Prevented from the use of electric sets. |
|
Telmond (Sharoon):Women
detainees |
§
Attorney visits occur behind a complex of a trellis, plastic
bar, and another trellis.
§
Absence of medical care [only Acamol is provided]
§
Quarters with high humidity.
§
Parents’ visits are banned.
§
Detention of child detainees with adult detainees.
§
Bathrooms have no doors.
§
Windows are locked with iron curtains thus preventing the entry
of sunray and air.
§
Inconvenient beds cause back, neck, and waist aches.
§
Prayers and the National Anthem are prevented during El-Forah.
§
Forah takes place in a small space that is surrounded with walls
and with a ceiling that prevents the entry of the sunray.
§
Absence of social workers and psychiatrists.
§
Learning is prevented.
§
Handcraft is fully banned.
§
Insufficient number of TV sets.
§
Parents living in
Nablus,
Hebron, and Jinine are prevented from visits.
§
Food is insufficient in quality and quantity.
§
Insults and threats of beatings and solitary confinement by
jailers.
§
Provoking inspection.
§
Sanctions of solitary confinement, and bales for ludicrous
reasons |
|
Ketseot (Neqab) |
§
Food is drastically bad in quality and quantity.
§
Eating sets are not provided [dishes, spoons,..]
§
Learning is prevented.
§
Spread of insects and pests.
§
Absence of medical care [They have no doctor, but one nurse].
§
Humiliating inspection.
§
Collective punishment [Prevention of visits and cigarettes]. |
|
Ofer |
§
Spread of Rheumatism, skin, and bone diseases.
§
Over crowdedness.
§
Installment of jamming sets causes severe headaches among the
detainees.
§
Shortage of detergents.
§
Obstruction of attorney’s work and postponement in setting the
dates of visits.
§
General health conditions are fully missing [Accumulation of
dirtiness and exposed water]. |
|
Ofek
Hasharon |
·
Child detainees are upheld with criminal Israeli juveniles.
·
Learning books are unavailable.
·
No contact with families and outer world.
·
Food is of bad quality and insufficient quantity.
·
Lack of medical care.
·
Lack of entertainment activities and means (No TVS and radios).
·
Small rooms (2x3 m). |
|
Russian
Compound(Masqoubeya) |
·
Food is of bad quality, insufficient, and unclean.
·
Covers are insufficient and dirty.
·
Verbal abuse and threats.
·
Children are beaten and threatened to be tortured by
electricity. |
|
Qadomim |
·
Inhuman and degrading treatment.
·
Food is of bad quality and insufficient.
·
Detainees are punished by position abuse(Shabeh) for any reason.
·
No medical care, sick children do not receive any medical
treatment. |
|
Salim
|
·
The rooms are overcrowded, 8 prisoners per room of 16 m square.
·
The doors are opened at
7:00 a.m.
for washing for 30 minutes; the time is insufficient for 51
prisoners to get washed.
·
Child prisoners are detained with adults.
·
Food is of bad quality and insufficient quantity: one can of
yogurt for 7 prisoners, an apple for each prisoner every 15
days, a small spoon of sugar for each prisoner every 14 days.
·
Prisoners are deprived from family visits, no contacts with
outer world, no TV or Radio, no newspapers, no recreation
activities.
·
Prisoners are deprived from their rights to education.
·
Prisoners are deprived from psycho-social counseling.
·
Provocative and degrading inspections conducted at inappropriate
times:
11:00
p.m., and 6:00 a.m.
·
No toilets in rooms, one toilet for each section.
·
Bathing is once a week.
·
No water installations inside rooms, but a 1.5 liter bottle for
each room.
·
6 mattresses and 4 blankets for 9 prisoners.
·
Prisoners suffer from insects and mosquitoes.
·
Lack of hygienic items: no toothbrushes or tooth paste, one
small piece of soap for 6 prisoners.
·
Prisoners are deprived from sports and practice.
·
Prisoners are deprived from their right to worship on Fridays.
·
Prisoners spend most of their time inside their rooms; prisoners
have a daily walk of 10-30 minutes but they are denied this walk
from time to time depending on the mood of the prison guardians.
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Psycho-Social Impact of Prison on Children:
Being subject
to various forms of abuse and violations of their rights, children
who experience detention suffer from psych-social problems making it
difficult to go back to restore their normal course of life. Many
of the freed child detainees refuse to go back to school, and find
it difficult to communicate with their peers who did not have a
similar experience of arrest. The future of these children is
jeopardized if they do not receive immediate psychosocial support
and rehabilitation that help them overcome devastating effects of
detention and continue to pursue a better future.
However, the
age interval of the target groups is 12-18 years. This means that
they are in the adolescence stage. Children in this stage have the
following features:
1.
Intense refusal to deal with the family circle.
2.
Expansion of interests of the adolescent.
3.
Growth of the intellect and the tendency towards abstraction.
4.
Tendency towards seclusion.
5.
Eccentricity or oddness having hostile or dangerous nature.
On the other
hand, factors of frustration, alienation and deprivation come along
during growth. Adolescence harbor hatred against social
institutions, and hence the tendency to take part in activities and
acts aiming at destroying and changing the social order.
Participation is overwhelmed by the negativity of dealing with
reality. And by resorting to various sorts of violence in their
behavior, adolescents plant the seeds of a series of perversions,
most importantly delinquency. This transformation happens in times
of peace. What about in times of conflicts?
Times of
conflict, wars, or occupation have social implication which revolves
around the idea of violence and conflict. It’s very clear that The
Israeli occupation has devastating effects on Palestinian adults and
children alike. This situation might lead adolescents into vicious
and criminal environment, and this situation still spreads its
negative influences on innocent souls because of neglect.
1.
Fear
2.
Tension and anxiety
3.
Inability to control emotion
4.
Inability of concentration
5.
Image of the Society: they are still considered as children while
they feel they are not; they are expected to be obedient They
become unable to play as children.
6.
The
feeling of being misunderstood
7.
Poor
communication skills.
8.
Feeling embarrassed to return to schools.
9.
Families feel that these children are fragile and that they need
more protection.
10.
Political fractions deal with them in a negative manner: They
considered the children as heroes, and they do not really understand
their need to natural growth and protection.
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