Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, 28 December 2009

At least 13 of these [Palestinian ] children were held in solitary confinement in Al-Jalame Interrogation and Detention Centre in northern Israel, near the city of Haifa. The children taken to Al Jalame reported to DCI-Palestine lawyers that they had been held in solitary confinement in a small cell (referred to as „Cell No. 36‟) measuring approximately 2x3 metres. One child reports being held in solitary confinement in this cell for 65 days. The children report either sleeping on a concrete bed, on the floor or on a thin mattress. Meals are passed to the children through a flap in the door depriving them of all human contact. The walls of Cell No. 36 are reported to be grey in colour with sharp protrusions preventing the children from leaning against the walls for support. Perhaps more disturbingly, the cell does not have any windows and only a single dim yellow light that is kept on 24 hours a day. Some children report suffering pain behind their eyes and adverse psychological effects after being detained in Cell No. 36.

It appears that the dominant purpose for detaining children in Cell No. 36 is to break their spirits in order to extract confessions. This conclusion is supported by the testimony of one child who states that “on the 10th day of interrogation and because I was under so much pressure, I decided to confess so as to get out of the cell.” All of the children report being kept in Cell No. 36 between lengthy interrogation sessions in which clearly prohibited techniques are utilised, such as excessive shackling of the legs and hands as well as position abuse. Below is an extract from a statement collected one of the children detained in Cell 36:

“I was seated on a small chair. They tied my feet and left hand to the chair, and kept my right hand free due to the injury. I was kept tied in this manner for a long time without being interrogated or asked anything. The interrogator would keep me inside the room and leave for a long time. “I will keep you alone until you rot,” he would say. During interrogation, the interrogator shouted at me and threatened that he would not change the bandages and let my hand rot. Due to the difficult situation I had to go through during the interrogation, I confessed to many things that I do not recall in detail. I wanted to end the interrogation, and I did it because of my bad health situation.” (A.H.A. 16 years old)

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Associazione di Amicizia Italo-Palestinese, 6 marzo 2010

Guardian.co.uk

01.03.2010

Un grave equivoco è stato messo in circolazione dalla dirigenza palestinese a Ramallah. I mezzi di informazione, le organizzazioni internazionali, i governi stranieri e i palestinesi in generale sono stati portati a credere che il fermento di attività economica nella West Bank rappresenti lo sviluppo economico che porta ad uno stato indipendente. Sul campo i fatti riducono in brandelli questo ragionamento, proprio perché Israele continua a microdirigere i frammenti economici del progettato futuro stato della Palestina verso una stagnazione sistemica.