ISRAEL: Children's Rights References in the Universal Periodic Review

Summary: A compilation of extracts featuring child-rights issues from the reports submitted to the first Universal Periodic Review. There are extracts from the 'National Report', the 'Compilation of UN Information' and the 'Summary of Stakeholder's Information'. Also included is the final report and the list of accepted and rejected recommendations.

Israel – 3rd Session – 2008
 4 December 2008 - 14.30 p.m. to 17.30 p.m.

National Report

29. Israel is a party to the core United Nations human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its two Additional Protocols on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, and on the Sale of Children, Child Pornography and Child Prostitution. Israel has also recently ratified the Protocol to the Palermo Convention on Transnational Organized Crime, on the prohibition of trafficking in persons, especially women and children. Additionally, Israel is a party to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. It is also signatory to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and in the process of its ratification. Israel was actively engaged throughout the process of drafting this Convention and has significantly contributed to the inclusion of specific Articles such as on access to justice. Israel has also ratified numerous international labor conventions such as No. 138, on minimum age, and No. 182, on the worst forms of child labor, as well as those under the auspices of UNESCO. Israel regularly reviews its reservations to human rights treaties, in considering the possibility of withdrawing them.

31. Certain laws integrate some of the human rights treaties into Israeli legislation. For instance, the stated objective of the Pupil Rights Law (2000), is the spirit of human dignity and the principles of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC); the Victims of Offences’ Rights Law, (2001), refers directly to the CRC when addressing a victim who is a minor; and the Law for the Authority for Advancing the Status of Women, (1998), states that one of its goals is to implement the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

36. The National Council for the Child is an independent non-profit organization, which as part of its work for the advancement of child rights, has established a position of an Ombudsman for Children and Youth, who receives referrals concerning the infringement of children's rights. There is also a special ombudsman for Arab children and for the many immigrant children in Israel, from the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia.

38. Recent examples of such engagements are the visits, in the past three years, by the High Commissioner on Human Rights, the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary General on Children in Armed Conflict and the Special Mechanisms of the Human Rights Council such as the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Representative of the Secretary-General on the human rights of internally displaced persons, in addition to the recent visit of Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.

42. On 29 October 2006 the Anti Trafficking Law came into force, paving the way, among other things, for Israel's recent ratification in August 2008, of the United Nations Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Sale of Children, Child Pornography and Child Prostitution, as well as the Protocol to the Palermo Convention on Transnational Organized Crime, on the prohibition of trafficking in persons, especially women and children.

43. The new legislation places an emphasis on the prohibition of all forms of slavery, as well as forced labor with heightened sentencing and heightened punishment for exploitation of vulnerable populations. Before the new Law, Israel did not have a slavery offence. Now, it is a crime with a maximum punishment of 16 years of imprisonment and 20 years if committed against a minor.

68. In a significant ruling of the Supreme Court in 1999, corporal punishment was completely banned from the educational system and later expanded to the framework of the family unit. In reaching this conclusion, the Supreme Court relied on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and on Israel’s Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty, recognizing that a child is autonomous, with rights and interests of his or her own. The Supreme Court determined that corporal punishment is not a legitimate method to be used by preschool or other teachers or other staff in the education system. The Court ruled that physical violence against a student is prohibited, and that the old case law “no longer conforms to acceptable social norms.” Similarly, it unequivocally stipulated that flogging, beating and ear pulling have no place in school. A student's dignity as a person is violated when physical violence is exercised. Likewise, striking a student's hand with a ruler is not a sanctioned teachers’ means of warning.

69. In 2000, the legislature annulled the defense against the civil tort of battery in the Tort Ordinance, which was used by parents and teachers who inflicted reasonable and moderate corporal punishment on children. The Pupils' Rights Law (2000) was consequently enacted in 2000, determining that the rights of the pupil were not to be punished corporally or in a humiliating way in as much as it is inconsistent with human dignity.

70. The Ministry of Education imposes an absolute ban on the use of any form of corporal punishment as a means of discipline. The same holds for verbal violence - that is, injurious or humiliating remarks. These directives are enforced through the criminal justice system and through disciplinary measures.

108. Israel’s Youth (Judgment, Punishment and Modes of Treatment) Law, (1971), prohibits the imposition of the death penalty on any person who was a minor at the time the offense was committed (section 25(b)).

113. Raising public awareness in relation to human rights, including within the Establishment continues to be a principal task, together with the aim of reducing domestic violence, especially against women and children.

UN Compilation

7. CERD, CEDAW and the Committee on Rights of the Child (CRC) recommended the establishment of a national human rights institution, in accordance with the Paris Principles, to monitor the implementation of the Conventions.16

13. CRC in 2002 and CAT in 2001 expressed concern about the difference in the definition of a child in Israel (persons under 18) and in the OPT (persons under 16) according to Israeli legislation.39

19. In his report to the General Assembly, the Secretary-General stated that documenting the recruitment of children by Palestinian armed groups remains a challenge, and the extent of the phenomenon is not well known. Reports also suggest that Shin Bet continues to recruit Palestinian children to be used as collaborators inside prisons or upon their release.55 CRC urged Israel and all relevant non-state actors to ensure that children are not recruited and do not participate in the conflict.56

20. In 2006, the Special Rapporteur on sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children sent a communication to the Government regarding a child, who had allegedly been trafficked to Israel and who had been detained for six months.57

22. The Special Representative of the Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict observed that the current policy of the Israeli authorities did not meet international standards for juvenile justice.62

26. The Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, the Special Rapporteur on trafficking, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, and the Special Rapporteur on sale of children, wrote to the Government in 2005 regarding allegations that female victims of trafficking felt pressured to testify in court because certain benefits, including shelter and health services, were being tied to their giving testimony.68

43. The Special Rapporteur on the right to health sent a communication in 2007 relating to the alleged inability of patients to have access to medical treatment abroad, after Israel closed the Rafah crossing.112 CEDAW called upon the State to ensure that Israeli authorities at checkpoints are instructed to ensure access to health-care services for pregnant women.113 A 2005 UNFPA report mentioned that delays at checkpoints have resulted in unattended roadside births and deaths of some women and infants.114

44. In 2005, CEDAW called on Israel to take urgent measures to reduce the drop-out rates of Israeli Arab girls and increase the number of Arab women at institutions of higher education.115 A 2008 UNICEF report noted that in the OPT, restrictions on access and movements challenge students’ and teachers’ ability to reach schools.116 CESCR encouraged Israel to continue to provide human rights education in schools and to develop a system of mixed schools for Jewish and Arab pupils.117 CERD welcomed efforts made by the State to improve the status of the Arabic language.118

50. The Special Rapporteur noted that the IDF security screening and search procedures at checkpoints raised concerns about privacy and non-discrimination, particularly heightened in the case of women and children.134 Specific problematic areas were allegations of the use of “human shields”,135 demolition of houses,136 targeted killings and killings of civilians.137

Stakeholder Compilations

3. Although party to a number of human rights treaties which prohibit torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Defence for Children International – Palestine Section (DCI/PS) indicated that Israel has yet to implement effective domestic legislation incorporating these prohibitions, as urged by the Committee against Torture in 2001.7

6. Israel should develop plans of action for ensuring that the Convention on the Rights of the Child is implemented in the OPT, as reported by Save the Children UK, Save the Children Sweden and World Vision, in their joint submission (JS 1).13

7. In the joint submission JS1, organizations indicated that Israel should make progress on implementation, including fulfilling reporting requirements to the Committee on the Rights of the Child when the second report of the State party is submitted.14

9. Under Israeli Military Orders, a child in the OPT is defined as being under 16 years old, while Israeli civil law which is applied in Israel and to Israeli Jewish settlers in the OPT, defines a child or minor as persons under the age of 18, as indicated by the organizations in the joint submission JS1.18

10. Nine years after the Israeli High Court of Justice (HCJ) ruled that interrogations must be free of torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, and that these prohibitions are absolute, these practices continue to be employed against Palestinian adult and child detainees, before, during and after interrogations, as indicated by DCI/PS. The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI), also reported on ill treatment of Palestinians detainees committed by Israeli soldiers.20 DCI/PS expressed concern by the use of coercive techniques by Israeli authorities to extract confessions; the provision of typed confessions to Palestinian child detainees; the use of confessional evidence, most of which is obtained illegally, in the Israeli military courts in order to obtain convictions, and the lack of effective mechanisms for investigating complaints of torture.21

12.The Child Rights Information Network (CRIN) reported that during 2007, some 700 Palestinian children were arrested by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank.32

24. Israel has devolved responsibility for the health system in the West Bank and Gaza to the Palestinian Authorities (PA), but remains responsible for ensuring the overall fulfilment of Palestinian children’s right to health, as highlighted by the organizations in the JS1. The blockade on Gaza has lead to the depletion of strategic medical reserves, an overall deterioration in the healthcare system, and extremely limited access to specialized care only available outside of Gaza.64 The Child Rights Information Network (CRIN) also reported on the impact of the blockade on children suffering from cancer and blood diseases in Gaza.65

26. Israel has also devolved responsibility for Education in the West Bank and Gaza to the PA and United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). However, the Israeli government maintains overall responsible for ensuring that all children in the OPT enjoy their right to an education and that its actions do not contradict or inhibit this right, as highlighted by the organizations in the JS1.69 The organizations also reported on: attacks on educational facilities and school children by the Israeli military and settlers; restrictions on school development; shortage of classrooms to educate all Palestinian students in East Jerusalem; restricted access to schools in many locations due to the Wall and other movement restrictions.70 In the West Bank, the ongoing closure and the construction of the wall have impeded students' access to schools and universities, as reported by the ICHR.71

27. R2E also referred to the negative impact of the Wall for students and teachers who regularly face problems crossing the checkpoint to reach the school.72 Since 2004, Israel has totally prohibited Palestinian residents of Gaza from studying in the West Bank. Israeli immigration controls deny access of academics and students holding foreign passports to Palestinian institutions of higher education, as further indicated by R2E.73 The R2E also reported that the Israeli army regularly invades the homes of students, conducts arbitrary interrogations and restricts their movement as punishment for non-compliance and; that Palestinian detainees from the occupied Palestinian territories (OPTs) inside Israeli prisons are arbitrarily denied the same access to education as their Israeli counterparts. In 2007, 3,000 detainees were not permitted to sit their end of high-school exams.74

32. According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre of the Norwegian Refugee Centre (IDMC) the situation of displacement in Israel, Occupied Arab Territories, in particular in OPT, has largely been neglected by the international community. IDMC reported on the situation A/HRC/WG.6/3/ISR/3 Page 9 of displacement in Israel, caused by Israeli policies towards Palestinians and Bedouin Israelis, as well as by conflict between Israel and its neighbours.82 Forced displacement has had a significant negative impact on peoples’ enjoyment of basic rights and their standard of living,83 including in particular on children.84 Legal mechanisms, established by Israel’s military administration in the OPT, and in occupied East Jerusalem and Israel under Israeli civil law, have often failed to provide effective remedies for displacement, while compensation is only rarely provided.85 In the Occupied Arab Territories, consisting of Syria’s Golan Heights and Palestinian Territory, IDMC and other organizations reported on displacement as a result of the 1967 war, as well as Israeli policies in the decades that followed.86 Though there are instances in which internal displacement is the direct result of violence stemming from incursions and human rights violations, IDMC and other organizations believe that the patterns of forced displacement attest to a policy with the purpose of acquiring land, redefining demographic boundaries, and divesting Palestinians and Syrians of ownership rights under international law.87 Issues regarding displacement were also raised by The Civic Coalition for Jerusalem, Save the Children UK, Save the Children Sweden, World Vision, Al-Haq, The Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center and other organizations.88Summary of the proceedings of the review process

Final Report

11.Israel is proud of its social rights system. All Israeli residents are entitled to free primary and secondary education and to public health insurance. Israel has a relatively well developed social security system for its residents, assisting financially, inter alia, people with disabilities, the aged and the unemployed. In recent years, Israel has made great progress with regard to gay and lesbian rights, though the issue remains controversial.

21. The State’s efforts and challenges upholding human rights and its institutions were noted by France, Austria, Belgium and Brazil, with particular reference to the Supreme Court; Ukraine and Turkey to the National Council for Children; Turkey to the Ombudsman for Children and Youth and a special Ombudsman for Arab children and immigrant children; the United Kingdom and Ukraine to the appointment of a national coordinator on trafficking in persons; Burkina Faso to the commission for equal rights for persons with disabilities; and Burkina Faso and Finland to the commission for equal opportunity in employment. Maldives mentioned the State’s signature of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Latvia the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography; Maldives and Japan, the cooperation with treaty bodies; and Switzerland, Maldives and Latvia, the cooperation with special procedures. The following delegations made reference to developments in the legal framework: Romania referred to the enactment of the Criminal Procedure Law in 2007 and amendments to the 1998 Freedom of Information Act; Turkey and Latvia to the Gender Implications Legislation; Greece to the enactment of the Equal Rights for Women Law; and the Philippines and Romania to the 2006 anti-trafficking law. Latvia, Japan, Ukraine, Mexico, Brazil and Romania highlighted the State’s efforts in combating trafficking; Burkina Faso and Ukraine, the efforts to promote the rights of the child; the Holy See, the United Kingdom, Burkina Faso, Mexico, Japan and Brazil, the efforts to promote the rights of persons with disabilities; the United Kingdom and Japan, the banning of corporal punishment throughout the education system; the Holy See, Latvia, Burkina Faso, Japan and Guatemala, the promoting of gender equality; the United Kingdom and Brazil, the promotion of the rights of same-sex couples; and Australia, the Parliamentary scrutiny of the state of emergency.

41. Slovenia noted with concern the information in the OHCHR compilation and stakeholders’ reports on the refusal to the right to conscientious objection, part of the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and on imprisonment in this regard. It asked if Israel intended to review this, and recommended ceasing imprisoning conscientious objectors and considering granting the right to conscientious objection to serve instead with a civilian body independent of the military. It asked about concrete steps planned to implement the recommendations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, and recommended that Israel develop mechanisms for overseeing their implementation in the West Bank and Gaza. Concerned about the lack of or limited right to education of Palestinian children held in Israeli detention, some in administrative detention, and about reports of mistreatment, it asked about steps to bring the State’s policy towards Palestinian minors in detention into line with international norms and standards. It recommended establishing a separate juvenile justice system to try accused Palestinian children. Noting that the definition of a child under Israeli military law for children in the Occupied Palestinian Territories differs from its civil law and from the international standard of 18 years of age, it asked about steps to consistently define the age of the child as 18. Slovenia commended the de facto moratorium on death penalty and encouraged the State to move towards its formal and final legal abolition.

68. Italy asked about concrete steps on the recommendations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, particularly on the situation of children in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Italy recommended applying the definition of a child as a person under 18 years also in the territories, in line with article 1 of the Convention. It recommended progressive removal of restrictions that prevent Palestinian children from access to basic services, including schools and health care. Italy noted with satisfaction that freedom of religion and the protection of places of worship are guaranteed by law, but noted that, in practice, some sacred places do not benefit from the same legal protection as official Jewish places of worship. Italy recommended that Israel guarantee equitable protection to all places of worship in the country, including all Muslim and Christian sacred places. It also recommended that it lift unnecessary restrictions on the granting of visas, particularly multiple entry visas, to members of the Christian clergy in the exercise of their religious duties. Italy expressed its firm commitment to the legitimate rights of Israel to ensure its own security, but noted that, although the Government recently announced that the Israel Defense Forces had removed more than 70 physical obstructions in the West Bank, investigations by some human rights organizations indicate that, in some places in the northern West Bank, obstructions previously removed had been moved back into place. Italy recommended ensuring more freedom of movement for the Palestinians in the West Bank and particularly Gaza in order to ensure adequate standards of living for Palestinian people and improve their access to health, education and work .

83. Ukraine requested more information on mechanisms such as the Military Ombudsman, the Ombudsman of the Ministry of Health and the Ombudsman for Children and Youth, particularly on the way that their activities are coordinated to avoid duplication or in the case of multi-sector problems.

84. Romania asked for more information on policies to implement legislation on human trafficking, prostitution, slavery and child pornography in all its dimensions, including transnational organized crime. It recommended and hoped that the relationship of the Government with civil society would intensify. Romania asked for information on the role of the Authority for the Advancement of Women in the national action plan and in implementing its cooperation with treaty bodies and special procedures. Romania recommended that Israel expedite ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities so that it may become effective at the earliest opportunity.

92. Israel expressed appreciation to the representatives who commended its efforts and progress, specifically with regard to persons with disabilities, women’s rights, children’s rights and trafficking in persons. Israel indicated it wanted to correct a few misconceptions in a number of statements. One representative suggested that persons under administrative detention were not entitled to access to a lawyer; in fact, individuals under administrative detention are entitled to counsel and the legal representation of their choice.

Accepted and Rejected Recommendations

No recommendations were accepted

The following recommendations were pending:

100- 37. Develop mechanisms for overseeing the implementation of the Convention of the Rights of the Child in the West Bank and Gaza (Slovenia); apply the definition of a child as a person under 18 also in the Palestinian territories, in line with article 1 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (Italy);

45. Establish a separate juvenile justice system to try accused Palestinian children (Slovenia);

50. Progressively remove restrictions that prevent Palestinian children from having access to basic services, including schools and health care (Italy);

Israel did not reject any recommendations