[News] The slaughter of Palestinian children must stop now!

Tue Oct 12 11:13:55 EDT 2004

Al-Mezan Press Release

Tuesday, October 12, 2004 6:06 AM

Reference: 68/2004

Date: 12 October 2004

Press Release

The slaughter of children in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) 
must stop now

Al Mezan Center for Human Rights gravely condemns the killing of 
Palestinian children by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF). The Center 
demands effective protection by the international community to stop the 
killing and severe injury of children, which cannot be justified by 
military necessity under any circumstances whatsoever.

At approximately 11 am today, Tuesday 12 October 2004, the IOF shot 
10-year-old Ghadeer Jaber Mkhemar, from Khan Younis. Witnesses said IOF 
troops opened fire from Neve Dekalim settlement towards the UNRWA Al 
Khalidyeh Primary School, which is located in Khan Younis refugee camp. The 
schoolgirl sustained critical wounds in the chest while she was inside her 
classroom[1].

Earlier on 22 September 2004, an 11-year-old girl, Raghda Al Assar died 
from wounds she sustained on Tuesday 7 September, 2004, from a live bullet 
in the head when she was in her classroom in Khan Younis.

In Rafah, in the south of the Gaza strip, Israeli soldiers killed 
13-year-old Iman Samir Darweesh Al Hams near a military post. Fifteen 
bullets were extracted from her body. Eyewitnesses, including Israeli 
soldiers from the unit that killed her, said the unit's commander opened 
his automatic rifle at her at close range after she had been identified as 
a child and therefore not a threat[2]. Numerous other children have been 
injured inside their classrooms in UNRWA schools in the Gaza Strip from IOF 
fire over the past two years.

Since 28 September 2004, the IOF have killed 115 Palestinians in the Gaza 
Strip, of whom 29 were children. Another 127 children have been injured in 
the IOF offensive, called "Days of Penitence", in north Gaza. Children have 
been killed by missiles, artillery and by snipers as IOF evidently used 
indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force in residential areas. This 
latest offensive so far raises the toll of Palestinian children killed by 
the IOF in Gaza since September 2000 to 516.

Al Mezan Center for Human Rights voices its grave concern and strongest 
condemnation of the slaughter of Palestinian children in the OPT. Children 
have been killed and injured at home, in schools and in the streets. They 
are the main victims of home demolitions and other violations committed by 
the IOF. Facts on the ground refute the IOF's claim of military necessity. 
It is evident, as mentioned in the Center's previous releases, that Israel 
has, for a long time, been in full breach of its obligations towards 
Palestinian children under international humanitarian law and the 
Convention on the Rights of the Child. The IOF's conduct will only be 
encouraged by the failure of the international community to ensure respect 
for international law.

The Center therefore renews its call upon the international community to 
effectively intervene and stop such violations, including the violation of 
Palestinian children's right to life. The most recent events in the Gaza 
Strip reinforce the fact that the absence of such intervention leads to 
more violations, and to the loss of civilians' and children's lives. Al 
Mezan also calls upon the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child to 
investigate Israel's violations of the provisions of the Convention. Israel 
must uphold its obligations under international law, and immediately stop 
the violation of Palestinian children's rights.

END

[1] Contrary to IOF claims, the girl was at her desk. She sat at the second 
desk of the fourth row according to witnesses from the school. The teacher 
who was in the class at the time suffered from severe shock when the 
incident occurred.

[2] See 
<http://www.mezan.org/site_en/press_room/affidavit_iman.php>http://www.mezan.org/site_en/press_room/affidavit_iman.php 
for more information on this case.

The Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 863-9977
www.freedomarchives.org 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20041012/f3b56b00/attachment.htm>