Thursday, March 07, 2013

Children


http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/03/07/18733269.php





Children

by Ted Rudow III, MA ( Tedr77 [at] aol.com )

Thursday Mar 7th, 2013

The United Nations Children Fund, or UNICEF, is accusing Israel of systematically abusing Palestinian children in military custody. In a new report, UNICEF says Israeli forces have subjected detained Palestinian youths to "to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" as defined by the U.N. Convention Against Torture. UNICEF special representative Jean Gough unveiled the report’s findings.





"We identified a pattern of ill-treatment when children are in military custody, and what we see is that this happens in the first 48 hours. Imagine a child sitting in front of an interrogator without sleeping. So that’s very hard on the child, and that’s difficult for him. So this is where we want to make the changes to make sure that that doesn’t happen."

Life in the occupied territories has mentally damaged Palestinian children, with 90 percent having experienced several traumatic events. The experiences include imprisonment, inhaling tear gas, nighttime attacks on their homes, Israeli soldiers brutalizing their parents in their presence and Israeli authorities demolishing their homes. So the vicious cycle goes on, and it's one the Palestinians are losing, as they're being ground down, humiliated, and destroyed in every way possible.

Pray for the poor, pray for the peacemakers, pray for protection for the innocent, pray for a solution. According to UNICEF figures, Israel arrests and interrogates around 700 Palestinian children aged 12 to 17 each year.

Ted Rudow III, MA



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