The Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council (PHROC) expresses its deep regret concerning United Nations Secretary General’s decision to exclude the Israeli Occupation Forces from the child rights violators list in armed conflicts, also known as “the List of Shame.” The Council regards this step a protection for the occupation forces against accountability and prosecution for their crimes.
UN Secretary General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, has issued a report on the 5th of June, 2016, titled “Children and Armed Conflict.” The report details violations that children are exposed to in armed conflicts, and includes a list of the parties guilty of committing them (the List of Shame or the Blacklist) following two Security Council Resolutions of (2005/1612) and (2012/2068).
The report encompasses the parties that have contributed in violating the rights of children either through killings; deformation; sexual abuse; child militancy and exploitation in armed conflicts; targeting hospitals, schools, and protected persons; and thus violating international law. The report says: “There were unprecedented challenges in 2014 with regard to the protection of tens of millions of children growing up in situations affected by conflict. In particular, children in several countries affected by major crises, namely, the Central African Republic, Iraq, Israel/State of Palestine, Nigeria, South Sudan and the Syrian Arab Republic, were exposed to the most egregious violations.” (Paragraph 5)
Concerning the State of Palestine (The Occupied Palestinian Territories), the report mentions, in its 79th paragraph, that “the escalation of hostilities in Gaza” and the “significant increase of tensions throughout the West Bank” had devastating impacts upon children. The report states that Palestinian and Israeli children were truly affected by the occupation circumstances of blockade and continuous conflict. But the report did not mention the State of Israel, the occupying state, controlling the Palestinian territories and practicing policies of siege and blockade upon the Palestinian people. Paragraph 80 of the report noted “a dramatic increase in the number of children killed and injured, especially in Gaza” reaching a number of 557 children killed in Gaza compared to 4 in Israel, and 4271 injured Palestinian children compared to 22 Israelis. Unfortunately, the report failed to mention the circumstances of the crime unlike the other mentioned states. Moreover, it revealed the rate of killing reaching 10 victims a day during the last aggression on Gaza making it the third highest rate of child victims following Afghanistan and Iraq.
Paragraph 95 mentioned that the occupation forces are still practicing the policy of detention against the Palestinian children where 151 children, aged between 14 and 17, have been detained by the occupation forces reaching a “monthly average of 188 children … in Israeli military custody.” The report further mentioned 122 Palestinian children,
detained in Israeli prisons, having been subjected to mistreatment, beatings (by sticks and hits), and sexual abuse.
As for the children of occupied Jerusalem, the report affirmed a number of 700 Palestinian children having been arrested during 2014, 70 of which are under the age of 13.
It must be noted that one thousand children from the Gaza strip were deprived of their right to education during the instable circumstances of the last offense on Gaza due to the bombardment of several schools by the Israeli Occupation Forces. According to the report, 83 UNRWA schools were damaged, and 2 governmental public schools were destroyed, while 7 if the damaged UNRWA schools were used as shelters for the displaced. One hospital and 58 primary healthcare centers were also completely damaged due to the occupation forces.
In its final paragraphs, the report stated the inexistence of “new parties listed in the report” (paragraph 282) while previous indicators listed in the same report are more than enough for Mr. Ban Ki-moon to list the Israeli Forces in the Annexes, especially as the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) in the Republic of Congo – who use children in armed conflict and attack hospitals and schools – have been listed.
Upon its disappointment of not listing the Israeli Occupation Forces as one of the parties committing violations against children (The List of Shame), the Palestine Human Rights Organizations Council (PHROC) states the following:
1. Demands uniform standards from the Secretary General of the United Nations for fair listing of the parties committing violations against children, believing in the definite condemning of the occupation forces amongst the list of shame.
2. Conceive of all the information and indicators reported as sufficient reasons for enlisting the Israeli Occupation Forces amongst the list of parties guilty of violations against children.
3. Calls upon the international community to exert pressure on the Israeli Occupation State to ensure Israel’s full application of the International Humanitarian Law, and the International Human Rights Law.