Khaled Mudala, a Palestinian student trapped in Gaza since June, landed in the UK on Tuesday after being allowed out of Gaza alongside 240 others. All movement in and out of Gaza for Gazians has been fully stopped since Gaza was declared a hostile entity in September.
We would like to thank everyone who has taken part in the campaign for lifting the travel restrictions for Palestinians. Khaled Mudala’s case has been focused on in order to highlight the restrictions on others. With your help we have been able to gain a great deal of media attention and support as well as support from key organisations and individuals. Through the support that we have gained we have been able to apply significant amounts of pressure on the Israeli government. Both the Israeli government and the Israeli Supreme Court cooperated to make the situation for the Palestinians in Gaza worse by refusing to interfere and stating that the matter was in the hands of the Israeli Army.
Several MPs supported the campaigns alongside key teaching and student organisations, such as the NUS and UCU. Also different student unions passed motions to support the campaign. After all this pressure both the Israeli Embassy and Israeli Government were forced to give several statements about Khaled’s situation. All of these statements were full of lies and false promises that Khaled would be allowed out Gaza within days hoping that these statements would diffuse the campaign. However the pressure was kept up and played a vital role in Khaled leaving Gaza a few days ago.
This is a very positive step forward – Khaled and a few others were able to leave Gaza but the situation in Gaza is still very dire. The campaign used Khaled’s name but it was always about the basic rights of Palestinians. This is also Khaled’s view as in a press conference earlier this week at special press conference in London, Khaled said, “I am very glad that I am here today but this is not a victory as whilst 140 people have been let out of Gaza there are still 1.75 million people living under siege, imprisoned, terrorised, being starved and in the canton of Gaza.â€. The pressure from the campaign needs to be maintained as Palestinians are still living under a dire situation and every right of the Palestinians is being seriously violated.
Introduction: Each year, hundreds of Palestinian children from the Occupied Palestinian Territories are arrested, interrogated, and imprisoned by the Israeli military authorities. Since 1992, Defence for Children International/Palestine Section (DCI/PS) has represented many of these children in Israeli military courts, monitoring the conditions of their detention, and intervening with relevant institutions and government bodies in order to improve their situation.
What DCI/PS has witnessed repeatedly through their work with Palestinian child prisoners, and what has been confirmed by other human rights organizations working within the areas under Israeli occupation, are widespread and systematic violations of international law designed to safeguard the rights of children deprived of their liberty.
While international law states that child imprisonment should be used as a measure of last resort, the Israeli occupation forces view it as a matter of routine, arresting around 750 minors in 2002. Over the course of 2002, draconian laws were used with greater frequency against children, including Administrative Detention orders which allow for detention without published evidence and military order 1500, which means that children can be detained for up to 12 days (previously 18) without a court appearance or legal consultation. In 2003, these military orders continue to be invoked against children, with around 400 arrests to end-September. At the end of 2003, military order 1500 was altered so that children can be detained for up to eight days without a court appearance or legal consultation.
When children are arrested they are usually taken to adult military detention centres and interrogation centres. There are no specialist juvenile facilities, courts or personnel within the Israeli system apart from Telmond prison which houses around 70 of 350 child prisoners. Frequently, we hear of cases where children are forced to sign confessions, where they are beaten and handcuffed, or subjected to positional abuse, or shabeh (see factsheets for more). Meanwhile, children deprived of their liberty are often denied access to healthcare and education, adequate nutrition, hygiene and recreation time. Family visits are a rare privilege due to travel restrictions on the Palestinian population and frequent detention within Israeli military bases or settlements. Not surprisingly, psycho-social studies indicate that the impact of imprisonment and the horrific experiences suffered by child prisoners has a significant impact on their future development as individuals.
However, the statistics suggest that the situation continues to deteriorate unrelentingly, with an increased number of arrests, an increase in cases against younger children (14 and under) and a marked trend towards longer sentencing. For instance, the longest sentences of over 3 years were not used at all in 2001, but in 2002, 17 children were sentenced to detention of between 5-10 years.
The information provided on this website is based on DCI/PS’s experience in working with Palestinian child prisoners. It is designed both to raise awareness of the issue as well as to mobilize people to engage in advocacy efforts to bring about Israel’s compliance with international law.