Showing posts with label Geneva Convention. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Geneva Convention. Show all posts

Monday, May 4, 2015

Israel Ignores International Law



Systematically and Continuously . . .





The United Nations most recent report on the issues, dated March 9, 2015, states that:


". . . Israel continued to play a leading role in the establishment and the expansion of Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in violation of international law, in particular article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. The settlements continue to be a central source of  multiple human rights violations of Palestinians. In this context, Israel still largely fails to comply with its international obligation to protect the Palestinian population from violent acts committed by Israeli settlers, and to effectively prevent, and ensure accountability for, settler violence. Israeli policies and practices regarding access to Palestinian land have a negative impact on the rights of Palestinians, in particular their rights to an adequate standard of living and to work.

 "Israel must stop obstructing and restricting the access of Palestinians to agricultural land in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Disproportionate restrictions, mostly related to settlements, are putting Palestinian livelihoods at a great risk. Effective measures should be taken to ensure that Palestinians are able to have access to and cultivate their land on a continuous basis, beyond ad hoc mechanisms such as “prior coordination”.  In addition, security of land tenure must be ensured, including by means of measures allowing Palestinians to register without discrimination the land they have been using for long periods of time.

"Israel, as the occupying Power, is obliged to take all reasonable measures to prevent violent attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians. Israel must ensure that all acts of violence committed by Israeli settlers against Palestinians and their property are investigated independently, impartially, thoroughly, promptly, effectively and in a non-discriminatory manner. Investigations should be open to public scrutiny and allow for the participation of victims. Alleged perpetrators should be prosecuted and victims should be granted an effective remedy.

"Israel must cease all settlement activity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as well as in the occupied Syrian Golan, and implement relevant United Nations resolutions, including Security Council resolution 497 (1981), and withdraw from the territories occupied in 1967.  Israel must also immediately cease the exploitation of natural resources from these territories." 


The full report is worth reading if you are not entirely familiar with the situation in the occupied West Bank and the occupied Syrian Golan. It is 17 pages long and contains sources and documentation:
http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9%7D/a_hrc_28_44.pdf

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The issues brought up in this report represent only some of the reasons why we boycott Israel.   We have 13 additional posts that cover quite a few more:  http://boycott4peace.blogspot.com/search/label/why%20we%20boycott

You may also want to explore some of the background on the conflict and how it began:
http://boycott4peace.blogspot.com/search/label/historical%20roots

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Be the Change!

Learn more about the boycotts here:
http://boycott4peace.blogspot.com/2014/12/boycott-list.html

Find letters and petitions to sign here:
http://boycott4peace.blogspot.com/search/label/Quick%20action

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Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

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Boycott for Peace!

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Friday, December 12, 2014

Palestinian Children Under Attack

International Political Prisoner Day

Palestinian Child Prisoners




Documentation of the physical abuse, torture and false confessions have caught the attention of many organizations. The dichotomy between the illusion Israel presents to the world as a democratic and law-abiding nation has been shattered with the investigative reports of on how Israel treats Palestinian by dehumanizing them to a point they are not seen as humans but as tools to suppress Palestinian resistance. Putting children in prison for 20 years on the grounds of throwing stones at Israeli military and settlers.

As a signatory to the Article of 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention Israel is obliged to follow rules of engaging prisoners. It is not allowed to detain prisoners outside the territory of occupation. Prisoners are not to be tortured or coerced to indulge any information. Prisoners are to be provided with a lawyer and given an opportunity to provide evidence of their innocence to a jury.

The Defense of Children International Statics on the Abuse of Child Prisoners listed these types of interrogation methods used by Israeli officials from January 2008 to January 2012. For a more detailed report see: http://www.palestinecampaign.org/campaign/child-prisoners/


Hand ties
95%
Blindfolds
90%
Physical violence
75%
Detention inside Israel
63%
Solitary confinement
60%
Confession during interrogation
58%
Threats
57%
Verbal abuse/humiliation
54%
Strip searched
33%
Transferred on floor of vehicle
32%
Signed/shown documents in Hebrew
29%
Arrested between midnight
and 0500
12%

The Israeli culture of impunity reinforces the systematic and institutionalized system of abuse towards Palestinian children prisoners as documented in the testimonies of thirty-three children located in this document. http://www.palestinecampaign.org/campaign/child-prisoners/

After a three-month investigation the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Child puts it in a more realistic perspective by calling attention to the trend that one out of every fifty Palestinian families have a least one family member imprisoned in the last ten year. It is a horrible situation to learn that child detentions have become a central issue in the lives of the Palestinian people. The link to the entire United Nations report http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/06/25/pale-j25.html

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Act Now! Sign this petition to Secretary of State John Kerry to stop the detention and arrest of Palestinian children by Israel: https://www.change.org/p/take-action-now-stop-the-arrest-and-detention-of-palestinian-children recruiter=32878192&utm_source=share_petition&utm_

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Additional sources
Palestinian children tortured, used as shields by Israel: U.N by Stephanie Nebehay (Reuters)http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/20/us-palestinian-israel-children-idUSBRE95J0FR20130620?irpc=932
Israeli Abuse of Palestinian Children Systematic says U.N. Rport by Hazel Ward (The WorldPost) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/06/israeli-abuse-of-palestinian-children-systematic_n_2817231.html

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Photograph from Wikicommons

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Boycott for Peace! 
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