Members of Parliament must act to support Palestinian children's rights!
Contact your member of Parliament today to ask that they add their name to an open letter raising concern about ill-treatment of Palestinian children detained by Israeli forces.
The letter calls on the Government of Canada to work with international partners to take measures to promote, monitor and report on human rights situation of Palestinian children living in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, specifically undertaking an evaluative analysis of Israeli military law and practice as they affect Palestinian children in the West Bank.
To read the letter in full, click below:
http://bit.ly/OpenLetterENG (English)
http://bit.ly/OpenLetterFRE (français)
Background on situation of Palestinian children in Israeli military detention
Children under 18 years old now represent nearly half of the 2.9 million Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank.
Instead of growing up with a law-based, negotiated settlement founded on universal human rights principles, justice, and respect for human dignity, Palestinian youth have had their futures stifled and suppressed by systemic discrimination, settlement expansion, and a military occupation with no end in sight where impunity is the norm.
Israel has the dubious distinction of being the only country in the world that systematically prosecutes between 500 and 700 children each year in military courts that lack fundamental fair trial rights and protections.
Children within the Israeli military detention system commonly report physical and verbal abuse from the moment of their arrest, and coercion and threats during interrogations. Under Israeli military law, Palestinian children have no right to a lawyer during interrogation.
Ill-treatment of Palestinian children arrested by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank has been widely documented by UNICEF, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, B'Tselem, and Defense for Children International - Palestine.
We need MPs to take action to ensure accountability and change.
Send a message to tell your MP to sign open letter on Palestinian child detainees
