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Summary: Most Palestinian men and many Palestinian The Palestinian Child: the politics of prisoners, Bex Tyrer Most Palestinian men and many Palestinian women have served time in prison. Since the beginning of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories in 1967, over 650,000 Palestinians have been detained by Israel. Approximately 40 percent of the total male Palestinian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) have been imprisoned. The number of Palestinian political prisoners per capita is amongst the highest in the world. For the current generation, imprisonment is as common and conventional as attending university. This is not due to an extraordinary level of concentrated crime, but a result of Israel’s strategic political and social methods of control. When put into context, the emphatic incarceration of Palestinian children reflects Israel’s wider aims of controlling and weakening the OPT. Through a combination of military discourse and flexible definitions, Israel repeatedly flaunts international law, and uses the legal system as a veneer to legitimize its military practices, and in this way indirectly legitimize the occupation. Although Prisoners without rights Since the outbreak of Second Intifada in September 2000, more than 2,500 Institutionalised racism Child detention is a reflection of Israel’s discriminatory policies. The UN Unfortunately, for Palestine’s children, a legal black hole has been dug, The threat of security Political considerations should not override basic universal human rights. In the last two years things have got much rougher. Palestinian children Any act of resistance to the occupation is labelled as a threat to security; Palestinian parents are often blamed by the uninformed of encouraging The politics of prisoners A child need not be a stone thrower or a ‘criminal’ in order to be On the surface, Palestinian children may seem like any other juvenile Mass and sporadic imprisonment of minors is an effective policy of Torture: “beyond the range of normal experience” Children are protected under international law precisely because they are Usually the arrests take place during the night when they are separated A child can be judged ‘guilty’ exclusively on the testimony of another child Systematic violation of children’s rights reflects the thoroughly In general every child prisoner passes through a type of torture. But the The Amnesty International Stop Torture campaign, has adopted a boarder Well documented forms of abuse include: sexual abuse (or threats of), ‘Life effects’ The psycho—social affects of child imprisonment combined with the It is estimated that 45% of Palestinian children suffer from Post—Traumatic For evidence on the psychological effects of imprisonment on children, an The type of torture experienced by Palestinian children should be What next? The facts on the ground show that situation is growing worse for child The current international passivity towards Israel’s actions turns universal In the meantime, Israel has embarked upon a series of public relations Cook, Hanieh and Kay, Stolen Youth: The politics of Israel’s detention of More information about “Kids behind bars: a child’s perspective” can be Author: Bex Tyrer is Assistant Editor of News from Within, a monthly Sources: Adameer: www.addameer.org Amnesty International Stop Torture campaign: DCI: www.dci-pal.org International Rehabilitation Centre for Torture Victims: www.irct.org Gaza Community Mental Health Programme: www.gcmhp.net Ministry of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, “Palestinian Child Political Palestine Monitor fact sheets: Notes: 1) Cook, Hanieh and Kay, Stolen Youth, 2004. p. 90. 2) http://www.dci-pal.org/english/home.cfm, 10 May 2005. 3) Article 132 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, requires that during times 4) The CRC is the most widely ratified UN conventions, and is the 5) Art. 2.1. United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration 6) Cited in Cook et al., p. 120. 7) Ibid. 8) Ibid. 9) Cook et al., p. 121. 10) Ibid. 11) Palestine Monitor, 20 May 2005, 12) Cook et al., p. 121. 13) Article 37, Paragraph b, UN CRC. 14) Cook et al., p. 67. 15) Ibid., p. 189. 16) Personal Interview, DCI, Ramallah, 2 May 2005. 17) www.amnestyusa.org/stoptorture 18) Cook et al. p. 97. 19) Ibid., p. 89. 20) Ibid., p. 7. 21) Ibid., p. 125.
women have served time in prison. Since the
beginning of the Israeli occupation in 1967,
over 650,000 Palestinians have been detained
by Israel. Athough children are detained as
adults, Defence for Children International-
Palestine argue that they are singled out
because they are children.
children are detained as adults, the Defence for Children International/
Palestinian Section (DCI/PS) argue that they are singled out because
they are children(1).
Palestinian children have been arrested. According to the, DCI, 323
Palestinian children* are currently being held in Israeli prisons and
detention facilities. (2) This is about four times the number prior to
September 2000. The conditions in which the Palestinian children are held
are below the minimum standards laid down by the UN and the Fourth
Geneva Convention. (3) According to Article One of the UN Convention of
the Rights of the Child (CRC) (4), a child is defined as “every human being
below the age of 18 years.” Although Israel is a signatory to the
convention, and applies this definition to its own citizens, Israel does not
apply its domestic law to Palestinians in the OPT (only to Israeli settlers).
In the OPT a Palestinian child over the age of 16 is under ‘military law’ and
therefore considered an ‘adult’. For many of these younger prisoners,
imprisonment may indeed constitute the end of their childhood.
Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice states
that the standard minimum rules should be applied to juvenile
offenders, “impartially, without distinction of any kind, for example as to
race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinions, national or
social origin, property, birth or other status.” (5) Universal laws are non—
negotiable and yet Israel has managed to steer the band wagon of ‘terror
threats’ and ‘in the name of security’ re—valued the rights and liberties of
one ethnic group over another. Through a cunning transfer of paper
authority to the Palestinian Authority (PA), Israel has successfully managed
to relinquish its role as guarantor of basic human rights in the OPT.
whereby Palestinian child prisoners no longer exist as far as the various
human rights mechanisms and structures are concerned. They are
excluded from Israel’s report to the CRC, while the PA has neither the
political mandate nor the international support to protect them. In reality
this means that Palestinian children as young as nine have been arrested
and interrogated. Palestinian children may be charged and sentenced in
military courts from the age of twelve. Seventy eight of the current child
prisoners are sixteen and under.
However, the danger of the ‘security’ argument is that it focuses on the
specific; that child rights are forfeited in order to safeguard the Israeli
state and its citizens. In the meantime the very premise of the security
discourse remains unquestioned. As Leah Tsemel, an Israeli Human Rights
attorney observes:
are seen less as children and more as Arabs and there is more indifference
towards them. This is reflected in newspaper reporting. Now an eight—
year old is reported as a ‘Palestinian that got shot’ and youngsters
as ‘mechabelim’ (Hebrew for terrorists). Now you hardly see any
separation on the basis of age. They are as dehumanised as the adults,
dehumanised and feared by Israeli society. (6)
regardless of whether it is just, and regardless of its form. Moreover, in the
current atmosphere, when ‘security threats’ are re—branded as acts
of ‘terrorism’, this means that imprisonment for membership to a radical
political party or for picking up a stone and throwing it goes unquestioned.
In Israel, the legal right to continued education whilst in prison is even
ruled as detrimental to security. (7)
their children to throw stones at the Israeli army and settlers. Palestinian
parents are often blamed with encouraging their sons to become fighters,
martyrs and suicide bombers. However, for most Palestinian parents their
fear increases with time, as the chances of their child’s arrest grows with
age. It could be argued that stone throwing constitutes one predictable
and relatively harmless acts of empowerment for today’s youth. They are
few alternative ways to demonstrate ones resistance. Likewise, the many
restrictions on travel and the frequent curfews also mean that there is little
choice of recreational activities. Unfortunately, it also happens to be
an ‘arrestible’ offence. In practice, ninety five percent of all child prisoners
are accused of throwing stones. (8)
arrested. ‘Mass arrests’ was one of the major characteristics of Operation
Defensive Shield and Operation Determined Path in 2002. The Israeli army
would use loudspeakers to order all Palestinian men and boys aged
between 14 and 60 to gather in nearby locations. As a result many
innocent, but statistically vulnerable young men took to hiding in nearby
caves or forests. Arbitrary mass arrests without evidence or connection to
any particular crime, reveals one of the most alarming aspects of their
imprisonment; that is that hundreds of Palestinian children are terrorised
and abused simply for being male and Palestinian. This reflects the multiple
use of Palestinian prisoners as political pawns, a means to fragment
Palestinian communities and a way to quell resistance:
offenders charged with offences that violate the law. But rather than been
guilty of a textbook definition of crime such as theft or drug abuse, they
have instead been charged with violating military orders that have been
established to maintain an illegal occupation. (9)
intimidation, which reaches beyond the individual. The likelihood that any
Palestinian male can be arrested at any time exerts a psychological toll on
the entire population. (10) It also acts as a warning light to all potential
dissidents, sending out a strong message, “that resistance to the
occupation comes at a heavy price.” Arbitrary arrest is also an act against
their parents and symbolic of their powerlessness and inability to protect
their children. According to a survey carried out by the Palestine Monitor,
77 percent of children are arrested at their homes (and without any
warrant). (11) The home is the place the child should feel most secure.
House arrests shatter this illusion as parents can do nothing but watch as
their children are forcibly removed. Children are targeted because they are
the future leaders of community. Imprisonment interrupts their education,
while causing serious practical and psychological problems upon release.
vulnerable. They require special consideration because their personality
structure, cognitive and physical self is still developing. (12) International
law recognises that traumatic events may scar them for life and
emphasises that imprisonment of a minor should operate upon the “Best
Interests” Principles. This “places a child’s welfare above all other
considerations in actions concerning children.” (13) A child should be
imprisoned for the shortest possible time if at all. Israeli state practises
have tended to turn this formula around. Palestinian children are often
detained without charge and receive disproportionately long sentences.
Around 400 Palestinian prisoners have exceeded the age of 18 while in
prison. What is of added concern is that numerous affidavits from child
prisoners document extreme forms of physical and psychological abuse.
from their families and blindfolded. They are often driven unnecessarily
long distances to a nearby location in order to increase their disorientation
and in many cases, increase the opportunity to be beaten whilst inside the
vehicle. They are taken to military bases in settlements or in military
camps. Without the automatic right to legal representation, the danger is
that the child is forced into isolation and intensive interrogation sessions.
Such a method reflects the military court systems reliance upon the
information gathered from detained children in order to arrest and convict
others.
detainee. This method of ‘collaboration’ is another destructive tool within
Palestinian society, and is indicative of the fact that the impact of
imprisonment extends beyond the period of incarnation. Given the climate
of fear and physical mistreatment, “children tend to confess relatively
quickly, even if they are innocent”. (14)
institutionalised system of state sanctioned violence. (15) When asked
roughly how many child prisoners were tortured, Abueqtaish replied:
period and methods vary from one child to another. (16)
definition of torture, in order to include these various forms of physical,
psychological and social varieties:
Torture is the systematic destruction of person, family, neighbourhood,
school, work, formal and informal organisations and nation, with the
purpose of controlling a population the state perceives to be dangerous…
torture’s purpose is to change the behaviour, the thinking patterns, and
the personalities of the victims – many do not survive it. (17)
position abuse (shabeh where the prisoner is being made to sit or stand in
difficult positions for long periods of time), being handcuffed and
blindfolded for extended periods of time, shaking until unconscious, denied
food, medical treatment and sleep, or being forced to sleep outside. Child
prisoners have also been released with multiple burn marks from
cigarettes being stubbed out on their body. Israel targets children’s
cultural, national and religious identity by exposing them to humiliating and
degrading situations beyond the child’s usual cultural—religious reference
point. Prisoners’ organisations have documented numerous cases where
girls have been handcuffed to a bed with their limbs spread or forced to
strip naked. (18) Several years after their release, many ex—detainees still
complain of headaches from multiple beatings. Research shows that 90%
of torture victims suffer from chronic psychological symptoms. (19)
limitations to fair legal representation, means that the primary focus for
many Palestinian human rights and prisoner support groups is shifting from
legal aid to group and individual counselling. This generation of Palestinian
child prisoners are children of the occupation. Upon release, they do not
return to a safe environment, but to the environment they have grown up
in; of curfews and incursions, unemployment and collective punishment.
Ex—prisoners are also issued with special an identity card, which makes
obtaining travel permits for daily movement throughout the OPT even more
difficult. (20)
Stress Disorder (PTSD). PTSD is a sign of trauma, the long term effects of
which include depression, anxiety, antisocial behaviour and non—specific
physical complaints including change of identity, low self—
esteem, emotional instability, fatigue and social withdrawal and a wide
range of psychosomatic complaints such as headaches and stomach pain.
extreme case is the world’s youngest political prisoner. Nour was born in
prison shortly after his pregnant mother, Manal Naji Mahmoud Ghanem
was arrested on the 17 April 2003. Nour has so far served one and a half
years in Tilmond Central Prison, Israel. He is one and a half years old, and
is already suffering marked mental trauma, comparing himself to his peers
(women prisoners) and alienated from other males and other children.
Consequently, his sense of ‘self’ is markedly skewed, which at such a
young age already poses social and communication problems as well as
psychological unbalance. (More information on the Manal and Nour case
can be found on pages …. of this issue.)
conceived in the framework of state torture. It is a conscious decision of
the Israeli state to employ these techniques as part of an overall strategy
aimed at weakening any actual or potential resistance to occupation. It is
not aimed solely at the individual, but at the entirety of Palestinian society.
As the DCI reported, “the deep rooted community spirit and sense of
collective responsibility means that the suffering and stress of individual
members affects everyone.” (21) Once again, the cumulative effect of the
occupation and generational arrest reaches beyond the individual to the
social fabric as a whole.
prisoners. The numbers are growing, as are the disproportionate length of
sentences. Local Palestinian human rights groups such as the DCI/PS are
desperately trying to raise international attention beyond the UN
legislation and ICJ ruling, which they rightly argue “still remain on paper”.
The DCI/PS has published a comprehensive book documenting the rapidly
escalating problem of child prisoners, or as they have entitled it, about the
Stolen Youth. From 30 June – 2 July 2005 they will host an international
conference, Kids behind bars: A child’s rights perspective, in order to
rally international pressure on Israel.
human rights law into a two tier system; one which protects certain
ethnicities but which ignores ‘other’ less powerful and often repressed
groups. Moreover, the financial and political backing of Israel by the two
power blocks, the US and the EU, provide Israel with the political legitimacy
and economic means to continue its occupation.
stunts or ‘concessions’. On 21 February 2005, after the Sharm El—Sheikh
meetings, Israel released 500 Palestinian prisoners. The fate of Palestinian
child detainees has been all but forgotten, and not one child has been
released as part of this initiative. Once again, under international law, their
release should be a priority. Instead, the freed prisoners had nearly
completed their sentences, which coincidently were primarily for minor
offences, such as travelling with an incorrect permit. This reflects the use
and abuse of the prison population as a bargaining chip. The ‘revolving
door’ nature of the arrests is part of this process, and distorts the prison
figures as Palestinians are continually arrested, released and then picked
up again at a later date. Meanwhile, the current Palestinian generation is
growing up with the same experiences as their parents’ generation;
second class ‘citizens’ without a state or a representative government on
either the national or the international stage. This is the daily reality, which
Palestinian children, including babies such as Nour, have to suffer the
consequences of.
Palestinian children, 2004, is published by Pluto Press and can be
purchased directly from DCI.
found at http://www.dci-pal.org
publication produced by the Alternative Information Center in Israel and
the Occupied Palestinian Territories. NfW provides valuable alternative
information, critical analysis and political activism; challenging the Zionist
nature of the State of Israel and the authoritarian nature of the Palestinian
Authority.
www.amnestyusa.org/stoptorture
Prisoners in cruel, inhuman and degrading conditions”, 24.10.04.
www.ppsmo.org/e-website/Others-Press-Reports/006-04.htm
www.palestinemonitor.org/new_web/factsheet_prisoners.htm
of war, confrontation parties make agreements to release specific groups
of prisoners including children.
cornerstone of international child rights.
of Juvenile Justice ("The Beijing Rules") Adopted by General Assembly
resolution 40/33of 29 November 1985.
www.palestinemonitor.org/new_web/factsheet_prisoners.htm