Israel Tortures Palestinian Children; Keeps Them In Outdoor Cages In Winter: Rights Group

[flacaltenn]

Abuse isn't abuse if Shusha says so.

because it AIN'T torture and it's not physical abuse. Gassing children in a tight bunker in Waco Tx was child torture..

 

[Dhara]

I disagree. Justify abuse all you will I will NEVER agree to it.

 

[Dhara]

Arne Malmgren, a Swedish lawyer, has worked as a legal observer inside Israeli military courts during trials of Palestinian children. “The Israeli court system does not look like any other court system in the world,” Malmgren told IPS. “Israeli military staff, the judge, the prosecutor, the interpreter — they are all in military uniform. There are plenty of soldiers with weapons inside the courtroom.

“The small children come into the courtroom in handcuffs and full chains; there can be up to seven children at the same time in the courtroom. One lawyer described it as a cattle market. The trial is more like a plea bargain — before the proceedings, the prosecutor and the lawyer have already agreed on the child’s sentence, and then they just ask the judge if he agrees, and he almost always does.

“There are no witnesses, nothing. And the worst thing is what happened before the child arrives at the courtroom — when they interrogate these young boys and girls to get them to sign confessions to things they may or may not have done.”
Israelis Torturing Palestinian Children

 

[Dhara]

Makarim Wibisono says Israel has blocked him from fulfilling his UN mandate to report on human rights violations in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. Makarim Wibisono has announced his resignation as UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, the position I held for six years until June 2014.

The Indonesian diplomat says that he could not fulfill his mandate because Israel has adamantly refused to give him access to the Palestinian people living under its military occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

When I met with Makarim Wibisono in Geneva shortly after his appointment as special rapporteur was announced, he told me confidently that he had been assured that if he accepted the appointment the Israeli government would allow him entry, a reassurance that he repeated in his resignation announcement.

I warned him then that even someone who leaned far to the Israeli side politically would find it impossible to avoid reaching the conclusion that Israel was guilty of severe violations of international humanitarian law and of human rights standards, and this kind of honesty was sure to anger the Israelis.

I also told him that he was making a big mistake if he thought he could please both sides, given the reality of prolonged denial of fundamental Palestinian rights. At the time he smiled, apparently feeling confident that his diplomatic skills would allow him to please the Israelis even while he was compiling reports detailing their criminality.
You can't report truthfully on Israel without facing its wrath

 

[flacaltenn]

Arne Malmgren, a Swedish lawyer, has worked as a legal observer inside Israeli military courts during trials of Palestinian children. “The Israeli court system does not look like any other court system in the world,” Malmgren told IPS. “Israeli military staff, the judge, the prosecutor, the interpreter — they are all in military uniform. There are plenty of soldiers with weapons inside the courtroom.

“The small children come into the courtroom in handcuffs and full chains; there can be up to seven children at the same time in the courtroom. One lawyer described it as a cattle market. The trial is more like a plea bargain — before the proceedings, the prosecutor and the lawyer have already agreed on the child’s sentence, and then they just ask the judge if he agrees, and he almost always does.

“There are no witnesses, nothing. And the worst thing is what happened before the child arrives at the courtroom — when they interrogate these young boys and girls to get them to sign confessions to things they may or may not have done.”
Israelis Torturing Palestinian Children

Testimony of a child with a grudge. Not legal evidence. SURELY there is evidence of physical harm right? If you are "beaten every day"... Why no pictures? Do Palestinians not have cell phones or cameras? "The food was bad".. What WAS the food? How many meals a day? Has it been documented by the press or a court?

Why don't you ask questions? Are you gullible or just need to believe hearsay? Produce me some evidence of torture, "electro-shocking, or sexual abuse.

 

[flacaltenn]

I disagree. Justify abuse all you will I will NEVER agree to it.

Obviously not. Not even when the alledged abuse is false as in the title of this thread..

Israel Tortures Palestinian Children; Keeps Them In Outdoor Cages In Winter: Rights Group

 

[westwall]

Its hard to believe and seeing children locked up and abused...This is the Israeli mind-set...This is what Israel has become to survive without shame or honor...


Israel Tortures Palestinian Children; Keeps Them In Outdoor Cages In Winter: Rights Group
Israel Tortures Palestinian Children; Keeps Them In Outdoor Cages In Winter: Rights Group
In a 2013 review of Israel's child rights record, the UN Committee on the Rights of Children (CRC) said it has deep concern about the reported practice of torture and ill-treatment of children arrested, prosecuted and detained by the military and the police
By American Herald Tribune | January 15, 2016
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Following a November 2015 report by the independent, in which it quoted NGO rights organization the Palestinian Prisoners Club (PPC) that at least 600 Palestinian children have been arrested in Jerusalem alone in the first half of 2015 and that roughly 40% were sexually abused, a new January 2016 report was also issued by the Independent, this time saying that the Israeli government is torturing children and keeping them in outdoor cages during winter time.

The Independent cited a report published by The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) saying that “children accused of minor crimes were subject to public caging, threats and acts of sexual violence and military trials without representation.”

Upon a visit by Israel’s Public Defender’s Office (PDO) lawyers, shocking details of happenings in the detention facility was uncovered.

“During our visit, held during a fierce storm that hit the state, attorneys met detainees who described to them a shocking picture: in the middle of the night dozens of detainees were transferred to the external iron cages built outside the IPS transition facility in Ramla,” the PDO described the scene on its website.

“It turns out that this procedure, under which prisoners waited outside in cages, lasted for several months, and was verified by other officials.”

The report said the incident in Ramla was just one example of a broad range of abuses being suffered.

As for the charges upon which the children are detained, the PCATI quoted figures from the campaign group, noting that “The majority of Palestinian child detainees are charged with throwing stones.”

74 per cent of these children experience physical violence during arrest, transfer or interrogation, the reported added, underscoring that Israel was the only government to systematically prosecute children in its military courts, and added that “no Israeli children come into contact with the military court system”.

In the first three weeks of November 2014 alone, Israel kidnapped at least 380 Palestinians from across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

In a 2013 review of child rights record, the UN Committee on the Rights of Children (CRC) said it has deep concern about the reported practice of torture and ill-treatment of Palestinian children arrested, prosecuted and detained by the military and the police, and about the State party’s failure to end these practices in spite of repeated concerns expressed by treaty bodies.

Do they feed them slop too? What a load of horseshit....

 

[aris2chat]

[TBODY][TR="align: center"]

[TD="colspan: 2"]UPDATED: False Charge of 'Palestinian Kids in Cages' Lives On in Australian Documentary[/TD]​

[/TR]
[TR][TD="colspan: 2"]
The false accusation that Israel maintained a longstanding practice of caging Palestinian children outdoors was repeated in several media outlets before being corrected by those outlets and repudiated by multiple sources. Yet it continues to gain new life as one Israeli media outlet steadfastly refuses to set the record straight.
The media charges began with a news article on Dec. 31 in the Jerusalem Post, "Livni halts practice of placing detained Palestinian children in outdoor cages." The story cited an NGO, The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI), to allege that there was a "longstanding" Israeli policy of torturing Palestinian children by caging them outdoors. The following day, a London-based newspaper, The Independent, published a similar article entitled "Israel government tortures Palestinian children by keeping them in cages, human rights group says." Two subsequent Ha'aretz articles also mentioned the Israeli practice allegedly targeting Palestinian children.
PCATI, the original source of the false allegations, wrongly conflated the holding of Israeli detainees in outdoor prison cells (referred to as "cages") with general accusations of ill-treatment targeting Palestinians. Referring to "caging" as an example of the alleged torture of Palestinian children, the NGO linked to an earlier Hebrew-language statement from the Office of the Public Defender, which in turn was based on interviews with Israeli detainees at a prison transit facility. (There was no mention here of any Palestinians.) Those detainees reported being held temporarily in outdoor cells during severe weather as they awaited transfer to their court hearings. The Public Defender's Office gave the report to Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who contacted the Minister of Public Security and the commissioner of the Israel Prison Service. The practice, which had been in place for several months, was immediately stopped. From the start, this was a domestic issue related to conduct by the prison system toward Israeli detainees of whatever background that was distorted into an allegation of torture and abuse targeting Palestinian children.
After CAMERA pointed out the discrepancy between PCATI's accusation and the statement to which it was linked, the NGO acknowledged that Palestinians were never mentioned in the Public Defender's report and posted a clarification to that effect on its website. CAMERA also contacted The Independent and Ha’aretz, who similarly corrected their stories.
CAMERA and its affiliates gathered additional evidence from multiple sources, including statements from the Public Defender's Office, the Justice Ministry, the Israeli Prison Authority, as well as remarks about the matter by the Minister of Public Security at a Knesset session following the release of the Public Defender's statement, the Knesset Public Petitions Committee session that was referenced in the Jerusalem Post article and Hebrew-language reports about the matter, all of which made it undeniably clear that the short-term practice of temporarily holding detainees in outdoor holding cells, or "cages," was never directed at Palestinian children or Palestinian adults.

For the past six weeks, since the Jerusalem Post article was originally published, CAMERA has appealed repeatedly to the newspaper's journalists and editors, urging them to correct the misleading story, but to no avail.

Unfortunately, the Jerusalem Post's inexplicable refusal to set the record straight has opened the door to the ongoing perpetration of an egregious falsehood, as evidenced by a vitriolic Australian documentary yesterday. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation documentary, "Four Corners," promoted a narrative of brutal abuse by Israel of Palestinian children. It included the Jerusalem Post's story of holding children overnight in outdoor cages. At approximately 32 minutes into the broadcast, the documentary zooms in on the Post's print story, graphically underscoring just how much damage the uncorrected report inflicts:

What exactly were the claims in the Jerusalem Post article that found a place in a sensationalist anti-Israel documentary, and how were they erroneous?

The Jerusalem Post Article

The Jerusalem Post’s headline "Livni halts practice of placing detained Palestinian children in outdoor cages"), subtitle ("The NGO alleges that the children were held in outdoor cages until Justice Minister Tzipi Livni intervened") and article all indicate that caging was an Israeli practice directed at Palestinian children. According to the article:

An NGO on Tuesday accused the state of torturing Palestinian children suspected of minor crimes, including placing them in outdoor cages during the worst of the recent storm, and of other acts designed to terrify the children.
The practice of placing the children in outdoor cages was halted when Justice Minister Tzipi Livni learned of it and immediately telephoned Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch, telling him to end the practice....
The NGO, the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, said the issue [of placing Palestinian children in outdoor cages] was a longstanding one, but that it was drawing special attention to the issue in light of Tuesday’s hearing in the Knesset’s Public Petitions Committee on related issues and a recent report on the issue by the Public Defender’s Office.
According to the Public Defender’s Office, it learned of the issue during a standard visit to a prison complex in Ramle at the height of the storm, with the children enduring freezing temperatures and inclement weather outside a transit facility...

The children were to be held outside for a number of hours overnight after their arrest until they were to be brought to court in the early morning...
The Public Committee Against Torture said that the practice was just one example of the torture and ill treatment of Palestinian children by law enforcement." [emphasis added]​

PCATI's Clarification
While the NGO continues to maintain that Palestinian minors were among those detainees who were temporarily held in outdoor cells, it has clarified that:

[t]he Public Defender's statement to which we linked regarding this deplorable practice, which has since been ceased, did not mention the word Palestinian. PCATI had been told that this practice did include Palestinian detainees including minors (which is why we included the subject in the statement). We value that this inconsistency was pointed out, however we also believe that in pointing out inconsistencies of this nature it is important to always dig deeper for the truth. . . .

We further point out that although that Public Defender's report did not mention Palestinians specifically we thought it important to further understand both what happened and to seek further clarifications. We understand that the linked statement to the Public Defender's report reflected an event in particular as contrasted to the longer term use of this practice. PCATI has learned from that the IPS, when asked about the circumstances surrounding the report that it did not distinguish between nationality and age and that there were people in custody who are also from the OPT. Therefore, there is no way out of saying that Palestinians too have suffered under this practice. That is, Palestinians, albeit not security detainees, were subjected to being held under these conditions and there were Palestinian minors as well. ​

Clarification by the Public Defender's Office
Dr. Yoav Sapir, of the Public Defender’s Office, who wrote about the practice in the first place, responded to CAMERA's query about the veracity of the Post allegations regarding such a practice being applied specifically to Palestinian children:

It seems to me that the [Jerusalem Post] article conflates a number of different things that are unrelated to each other. I haven't read the report from the Public Committee Against Torture and I don't know what was written there.

The report from the Public Defender's Office that is mentioned in the article relates to detainees at the "Ayalon" transit point before they were brought to the court, and was written following interviews held by representatives from the Public Defender's Office with prisoners who were brought to the court house in Lod. To the best of our knowledge, the prisoners held under the conditions described in the report were not necessarily minors and not necessarily Palestinians. Even though the report was unusual in its severity, it made no mention of "torture" which connotes the deliberate causing of suffering.

We welcome the fact that following the report, the holding of prisoners in the manner described by the report was immediately stopped.​

Clarification by the Justice Ministry

The Justice Ministry confirmed that the practice in question targeted Israelis, not Palestinians. Spokeswoman Ganit Ben-Moshe wrote:

This is about [facilities in] territory within the State of Israel and about detainees who were Israeli residents and citizens – not specifically minors and not specifically Palestinians, as was claimed in various publications.​

In an additional statement, Ben-Moshe noted:

In response to your further request by telephone, we wish again to clarify that the report deals with an inspection done within Israeli territory regarding detainees who were brought to court hearings from different detention facilities in the [geographic area] of the center. There is no data base to ascertain the identity and citizenship of each and every one of the detainees, but it is absolutely clear that the conditions described apply to all detainees brought to that place, Jews and Arabs, minors and adults ​

Clarification by the Israel Prison Service

The response of the spokeswoman of the Israel Prison Service further repudiated the false claims, including one in which the inspectors were erroneously reported to have based their report on a surprise visit to the facility. Sivan Weizman wrote:

Further to the Public Defender's report about keeping detainees in holding cells ("cages") at the detention center in Ramle.

First, I would like to emphasize that the inspectors who wrote the report did not visit the facility at all, but prepared it (the report) following their visit to the Lod court, and relied solely on their conversations with prisoners and detainees.

It is important to point out that the holding cells that were discussed serve as a transition point between prisons, or between prisons and the courts and therefore serve the entire prisoner population without any distinction as to their residency status (Israel/Palestinian Authority) or the type of offense (security/criminal), and mainly applied to criminal convicts.

The length of time in which the prisoners were kept at the location was short, and no longer than two hours.

All the complainants mentioned in the report in question were criminal prisoners/detainees who are Israeli residents.

Similarly, we would like to point out that following the report, the use of the location was immediately discontinued and it was renovated and adapted. ​

Similarly, Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch addressed the issue of detaining people in "cages" at the 93rd session of the 19th Knesset held on Dec 18. (See here for the minutes.) Neither he nor any other Knesset member ever mentioned Palestinians in relation to the policy or the population that was affected. It is also noteworthy that the minister objected to the term "cage" itself, explaining that these were temporary holding cells with bars.

A video of the Knesset Petitions Committee session, which the Jerusalem Post article implied addressed the practice of caging in a discussion of detaining Palestinian children, was reviewed in its entirety. No reference was made at any point to a policy of holding detainees in cages.


Corrections in the Media

Media outlets generally considered quite hostile to and critical of Israel have been quickly correcting the story. Shortly after PCATI clarified its statement, CiF Watch, a CAMERA affiliate, prompted a second correction at the Independent regarding its Jan. 1 article on the subject.

The Independent removed any reference to Palestinians in both the headline and the article itself, and appended the following to the bottom of the article:

Also thanks to CiF Watch, the Independent had earlier corrected the false claim that the detainees had been detained "for months" in the outdoor facility, when in fact they were held there for hours. (This error had not appeared in the Jerusalem Post article.)

Ha'aretz, too, deserves appreciation for its rapid corrections of the unfounded claim that Israel had a practice to place Palestinians in cages. In an article Friday comparing Israel to slaveholders, Eva Illouz wrote:

In a widely publicized news story, PCATI found that children were also the object of treatment that is equivalent to torture, and that the IDF engages in such practices as putting Palestinian children guilty of minor crimes in cages (for two days), exposed to the cold in the deep of winter.​

Within a day of receiving communication from CAMERA, Ha'aretz removed the false claim, and appended a correction:

In a separate article today, Ha'aretz repeated the falsehood, reporting:

Last month Justice Minister Tzipi Livni ordered the practice of keeping some Palestinian children locked in outdoor cages overnight.
​

CAMERA again followed up with Ha'aretz editors, who once again within hours set the record straight, amending the text and appending a correction as follows:

In communication with CAMERA, the Jerusalem Post has maintained that Palestinian children were among those detainees who had been held outdoors during the months the practice was in place. Therefore, there were no plans to correct the story or issue a clarification. But had the newspaper's story been merely about an objectionable Israeli domestic policy that may have included but did not specifically target Palestinians, chances are that it would not have made it into defamatory Australian documentary. Perhaps the Jerusalem Post should now reconsider the consequences of not clarifying its misleading article and at last set the record straight.

UPDATE, Feb. 12: The Jerusalem Post responds:

Pertaining to the December 31 story, "Livni halts practice of placing detained Palestinian children in outdoor cages," the 'Post' stands by its report and wishes to clarify that indications are that the practice pertained to Israelis, Palestinians, grown-ups and children without distinction.

NGO The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel continues to stand by its claim that Palestinian children were subject to the policy.

There are no parties, including the Israel Prisons Service (IPS), that categorically deny this. Many officials say that there were no Palestinian detainees during a particular episode investigated by the Public Defender, but off-the-record, some of these officials acknowledge there were probably Palestinians involved during the months that the practice went on.​

Unfortunately, the Dec. 31 story was not about a domestic practice which may have at some point affected a Palestinian minor. It misled readers with the suggestion that Israelis had a longstanding policy of deliberately targeting Palestinian children with caging as a means of torture and ill-treatment — and that is precisely why the Australian documentary picked it up.[/TD][/TR][/TBODY]​

CAMERA: UPDATED: False Charge of 'Palestinian Kids in Cages' Lives On in Australian Documentary

 

[Lipush]

Sounds like a load of bullshit.

Also Pbel always takes his articles from questional blogs instead of normal websites.

 

[pbel]

Sounds like a load of bullshit.

Also Pbel always takes his articles from questional blogs instead of normal websites.

Lipush, the Jerusalem Post originally published the story. I hope its not true or maybe it was an isolated occurrence.

The thought of young children caged like animals breeds animals that will later kill you. This is why this conflict goes on and on...



The Independent Falsely Claims That Israel 'Caged ...
www.algemeiner.com/2014/01/03/...israel-caged-palestinian-children...
Jan 03, 2014 · The Indy’s charge that Palestinian children were caged ... The author, a former editor at The Jerusalem Post, tackles his relationship with his ...

 

[Dhara]

I disagree. Justify abuse all you will I will NEVER agree to it.

Obviously not. Not even when the alledged abuse is false as in the title of this thread..

Israel Tortures Palestinian Children; Keeps Them In Outdoor Cages In Winter: Rights Group

The OP story may not be true, the caged bit. But I've provided alot of documentation that Israel's treatment of children in detention needs to change.

 

[MJB12741]

Sounds like a load of bullshit.

Also Pbel always takes his articles from questional blogs instead of normal websites.

Lipush, the Jerusalem Post originally published the story. I hope its not true or maybe it was an isolated occurrence.

The thought of young children caged like animals breeds animals that will later kill you. This is why this conflict goes on and on...



The Independent Falsely Claims That Israel 'Caged ...
www.algemeiner.com/2014/01/03/...israel-caged-palestinian-children...
Jan 03, 2014 · The Indy’s charge that Palestinian children were caged ... The author, a former editor at The Jerusalem Post, tackles his relationship with his ...

Now we know why Votaire hates your kind.

 

[Boston1]

I read the entire thread. Lots of accusations and very little evidence to support them.

I see no reason to believe Israel is torturing children.

 

[pbel]

Sounds like a load of bullshit.

Also Pbel always takes his articles from questional blogs instead of normal websites.

Lipush, the Jerusalem Post originally published the story. I hope its not true or maybe it was an isolated occurrence.

The thought of young children caged like animals breeds animals that will later kill you. This is why this conflict goes on and on...





The Independent Falsely Claims That Israel 'Caged ...
www.algemeiner.com/2014/01/03/...israel-caged-palestinian-children...
Jan 03, 2014 · The Indy’s charge that Palestinian children were caged ... The author, a former editor at The Jerusalem Post, tackles his relationship with his ...

Now we know why Votaire hates your kind.

There is enough truth that children were put in cages outside in the winter... Is it wide-spread, that remains to be seen. Maybe that day noted was not torture but I'm sure the seeds of hate were planted.

 

[Boston1]

It would appear that rather than provide any evidence to support your previous claims. you're simply making more accusations.

Doesn't appear very credible

My only take away is that you are most likely simply not being truthful.

 

[pbel]

It would appear that rather than provide any evidence to support your previous claims. you're simply making more accusations.

Doesn't appear very credible

My only take away is that you are most likely simply not being truthful.

there you go by finagling the truth. Tell us what was untruthful?

 

[Hollie]

It would appear that rather than provide any evidence to support your previous claims. you're simply making more accusations.

Doesn't appear very credible

My only take away is that you are most likely simply not being truthful.

there you go by finagling the truth. Tell us what was untruthful?

Your phony claim.

 

[aris2chat]

I disagree. Justify abuse all you will I will NEVER agree to it.

Obviously not. Not even when the alledged abuse is false as in the title of this thread..

Israel Tortures Palestinian Children; Keeps Them In Outdoor Cages In Winter: Rights Group

The OP story may not be true, the caged bit. But I've provided alot of documentation that Israel's treatment of children in detention needs to change.

now try justifying the treatment of palestinian children by groups like hamas. That is child abuse.

 

[pbel]

It would appear that rather than provide any evidence to support your previous claims. you're simply making more accusations.

Doesn't appear very credible

My only take away is that you are most likely simply not being truthful.

there you go by finagling the truth. Tell us what was untruthful?

Your phony claim.

what phony claim?

 

[PK1]

I need MUCH MORE evidence ..

---
That is an excellent objective approach, and therefore you are not religious and an agnostic too?

With regard to this thread, the OP title appears to be misleading (about ONLY Pali kids held in outdoor cages & the degree of their "torture"), but it does raise valid concerns about how Israel treats Pali children in general.
And likewise, I would not be surprised if Israeli kids were mistreated by Pali authorities.
HOWEVER, the Pali kids are arrested (often w/out evidence) in their own occupied territory, then often transported across to Israeli land in violation of the Geneva Convention ...

"Two out of the three military detention facilities run by the IPS where Palestinian children are held in detention are located inside Israel (Hasharon and Megiddo). The transfer of Palestinian detainees outside the occupied Palestinian territory constitutes a breach of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, prohibiting the transfer of protected persons from occupied territory, and Article 76 of the same Convention, providing that protected persons convicted of offenses shall be detained and serve their sentences within the occupied territory."

How would you feel if you were 12 years old and transported away from your family to a hostile territory and interrogated behind closed doors without fair counsel?

I agree that BOTH Palestinians and Israelis are to blame for their continued conflicts, but the children's suffering should be minimized when under the control of ETHICAL authorities, and Israel seems to hold the most power with support from the USA.
.