Occupied Palestine is an 'open-air prison' because of 'Israel': UN SR

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
12 Jul 2023 13:54
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The UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, says "Israel" has refused to "facilitate her entry" to occupied Palestine despite that her findings remain grounded in a six-month investigation.

Israeli troops detained a Palestinian man after Israeli settlers blocked Palestinian children from entering a school in the village of al Lubban al Sharqiya, near the West Bank city of Nablus, Occupied Palestine, Sunday, November 28, 2021. (AP)

The UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, said 'Israel' turned the Palestinian territories that have been occupied into an 'open-air prison' due to the large-scale detention campaigns regularly conducted by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF).

During a press briefing, Albanese said that "There is no other way to define the regime that Israel has imposed on the Palestinians - which is apartheid by default --other than an open-air prison."

Moreover, the Special Rapporteur explained that "By deeming all Palestinians as a potential security threat, Israel is blurring the line between its security and the security of its annexation plan ... Palestinians are presumed guilty without evidence, arrested without warrants, detained without charge or trial very often, and brutalized in Israeli custody."

Albanese also underscored, based on a six-month investigation and "consultations, testimonies, stakeholders' contributions, and a comprehensive review of primary and public sources," that since 1967 alone, about 800,000 Palestinians, children included, have been arrested and detained by Israeli authorities

Significantly, "Israel's continued refusal to facilitate her entry" prohibited the Special Rapporteur from entering the occupied Palestinian territories. This did not stop Albanese from making her statement that the detention practices carried out by "Israel" could amount to international crimes.

In turn, and eager to deny the statements made by Albanese, the permanent Israeli mission to the UN in Geneva targeted Albanese rather than her claims dismissing her findings without grounds. The mission, according to Reuters, claimed "Israel does not expect any fair, objective or professional treatment from this Special Rapporteur who was chosen due to her partial views against Israel," further catastrophizing and saying "Her mandate was created with the sole purpose of discriminating against Israel and Israelis."

Majority of Palestinian children in Israeli prisons are abused: Report

Palestinian children in Israeli prisons are reportedly subjected to one or more forms of humiliation and physical and psychological torture through a number of systematic tools and methods that contradict international norms and conventions on children's rights. These violations actually start from the first moment of arrest and continue during the period of investigation and detention.

New research by Save the Children revealed that four out of five Palestinian children in Israeli prisons are beaten. Additionally, 69% of these children are also strip-searched.

During any arrest, 42% of the children get injured, including getting shot and having their bones broken. According to the child rights organization, some reported sexual abuse, while others are moved in to cramped cages, to court, or between detention facilities.

Jason Lee, Save the Children's country director in occupied Palestine, said: "There's simply no justification for beating and stripping children, treating them like animals or robbing them of their futures. This is a child protection crisis that can no longer be ignored. There must finally be an end to this abusive military detention system."

The majority of children are assaulted, shackled, and blindfolded upon detention, according to Save the Children and a partner organization that spoke with 228 former child detainees from across the occupied West Bank. The children were detained for a period of between one and 18 months.

"They are also interrogated at unknown locations without the presence of a caregiver and are often deprived of food, water, and sleep, or access to legal counsel," as per the research.

The primary charge for these detentions is hurling stones, which carries a 20-year jail sentence for Palestinian minors. Some children reported being forced to accuse others of wrongdoing in order to be released from Israeli prisons.