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While Israeli domestic law defines a child as anyone under the age of 18, as is the internationally accepted definition, Palestinian children enjoy very little protection by Israel. Israeli Military Order No. 132, according to the International Commission of Jurists, Swedish Section (ICJ), defines a Palestinian child as "a person under 12 years; a teenager is a person above 12 years and under 14 years; an adolescent is a person above 14 years and under 16 years; an adult is a person 16 years and above." Palestinian children, upon arrest, are often beaten and coerced through torture or other inhuman treatment into confessing. Once given a hearing at military court, the procedures fall far from what is accepted under international law. According to the ICJ, "A female lawyer told us that a judge once said openly in the courtroom to a defendant: 'you will have one more year's imprisonment if you keep asking for a witness examination.' Because of the risk of a harder punishment lawyers rarely ask for a witness examination," even though these children are often innocent and have confessed under torture. Furthermore, the ICJ explains, punishment "differs from court to court, from prosecutor to prosecutor and from judge to judge." Children, oftentimes arbitrarily arrested, are not protected in the Israeli military court system and are often denied access to legal counsel and intimidated into collaboration with Israeli intelligence. Children are often held without charge or trial in administrative detention, and sometimes in facilities in Israel, in contravention to international law. As Defence for Children International-Palestine Section points out with concern, "there is no special treatment for child prisoners, who are denied family visits, education or adequate recreation." Indicating the level of respect Israeli authorities have towards the rights of Palestinian children, a spokesperson for Israel's prison service defended the condictions in which Palestinian children are held, telling the IRIN news service, "'These young Palestinian terrorists get visited by their families twice a month ... we Israelis don't get to visit our prisoners, like Gilad Shalit [a soldier captured by Palestinian militants on 25 July] in Gaza, but we still guarantee the Palestinians their rights.'" Of course, Israel's "guarantee" of Palestinian childrens' rights does not even come close to conforming to international law. Reports by human rights organizations and diaries published by The Electronic Intifada demonstrate that Israel punishes Palestinian children as a matter of first resort -- a prosecutor at Ofer Military Court told the ICJ "the punishments may become harder in order to deter Palestinians from making resistance" -- and robbing thousands of Palestinians of their childhood. News and Analysis ©2000-2007 electronicIntifada.net unless otherwise noted. Content may represent personal view of author. This page was printed from the Electronic Intifada website at electronicIntifada.net. You may freely e-mail, print out, copy, and redistribute this page for informational purposes on a non-commercial basis. To republish content credited to the Electronic Intifada in online or print publications, please get in touch via electronicIntifada.net/contact |