|
Press Release 28 March 2001 |
||||
| Press Release Index | ||||
|
The 101st Palestinian Child is Killed Since the Outbreak of the Intifada |
||||
|
|
||||
|
Despite repeated condemnation by the United Nations and the International community, Israel continues to violate basic Palestinian rights. Yesterday another Palestinian child, Mahmoud Ismael Ahmed Abdul Hadi al-Darawish, was killed near the West Bank town of Hebron. His death brings to 101 the total number of children under the age of 18 killed since the outbreak of the Intifada on 29 September 2000. According to information gathered by al-Haq fieldworkers from those present at the time of the shooting the following is a reconstruction of the events surrounding Mahmoud’s death. Several of Mahmoud’s family members and a group of their friends had gathered on the roof of Mahmoud’s home to play cards. The home is located in the village of Dura near Hebron. Several children, including 11 year-old Mahmoud, were gathered around watching the game. At approximately 8:00 pm Jamal Hussein Mohammad al-Darawish, one of the card players, reports having heard gunshots emanating from the direction of an Israeli tank located on a hill overlooking the area in which the house is located. Mahmoud collapsed and was found to have been shot, whereupon he was quickly transported to Aliy’a Hospital in Hebron, but was declared dead upon arrival from a single gunshot wound to the chest. At the time of this incident clashes between Palestinian gunmen and Israeli soldiers had just broken out at the entrance al-Fawwar Refugee Camp, which is located approximately one and a half kilometers from Dura, but there were no clashes in the immediate vicinity of Mahmoud’s home. Throughout the Intifada the lives of Palestinian children have been placed in danger due to the Israeli forces indiscriminate and excessive use of force. Al-Haq has documented numerous cases in which children who are uninvolved in clashes have been either killed or seriously wounded. On October 6th Ala’a Mohammad Mahfouz was shot in the head while standing on his porch drinking a cup of tea by an Israeli soldier standing 10 meters away from him. Information gathered by al-Haq indicates that Ala’a was killed in retaliation for having thrown stones during a protest earlier in the day. On March 3rd eight year-old Obei Mohammad Mahmoud Darraj was struck and killed by a stray bullet fired from the settlement of Psagot, which is near his home. He was playing in his bedroom when he was killed. On November 3rd one-month-old Hind Nidal Jameel Abu Queider died as a result of a reaction to tear gas she inhaled when gas fired by Israeli soldiers filled her home. Israeli practices have not only violated Palestinian children’s right to life, but have also violated their rights to health, education, economic stability, and security. The Government of Israel ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on November 2, 1991. As a State Party to the Convention, Israel is bound by article 2 to ensure the rights contained therein to any child under their jurisdiction. Article 4 of the Convention obliges States Parties to take “all appropriate legislative, administrative, and other measures for the implementation of the rights recognized in the present Convention.” Additionally, Article 38 of the convention states that, “States Parties under take to respect and to ensure respect for rules of international humanitarian law applicable to them in armed conflicts which are relevant to the child.” In light of the continued violations of Palestinian children’s rights, and the ongoing violence perpetrated by Israeli forces in the Occupied Territories, al-Haq wishes to express its disappointment over the US’s veto of yesterdays UN Security Council Resolution that would have given backing to a UN observer force to be deployed in the Occupied Territories. With each passing day the situation in the Occupied Territories worsens. The approval of a UN force to be sent to the Occupied Territories sends a strong message that human rights must be respected, not doing so only serves to support the status quo.Al-Haq wishes to express its grave concern over the lack of action taken on the part of the international community to combat human rights violations occurring in the Occupied Territories. In light of the continuous deterioration of the human rights situation in the Occupied Territories, specifically, the lack of protection afforded to children, al-Haq wishes to reiterate its calls upon the international community to: 1. Ensures that the Israeli authorities abide by provisions of international humanitarian and human rights law. 2. Press for immediate action by the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to fulfill their obligations under Article 1 of the Convention “to ensure respect for the present Convention in all circumstances”. 3. Send human rights monitors to the Occupied Territories to document abuses perpetrated by the Israeli Occupying forces. |
||||
|
|
||||
|
|