“Israel’s actions violate universal principles of human rights”

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Alister Burt, the government’s minister for the Middle East, expressed concern over Israel’s repeated human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territories and criticised the Israeli government for its policy of using secret evidence to convict Palestinian children in the West Bank.

The minister went on to criticise the Israeli policy of denying Palestinian prisoners access to their families while under detention and said that Israel ’risked undermining its own interests’ through these actions.

The minister made his remarks as part of the government’s response to a 90-minute Westminster Hall debate on the detention of Palestinian children and the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The debate was secured by Sandra Osborne MP following a trip by members from the Britain-Palestine All Party Group to the occupied West Bank. the delegation, organised by the Council for Arab British Understanding, spent four days in the occupied territory during which MPs witnessed the highly questionable treatment of child detainees by an Israeli military court.

Ian Lavery MP told the hall “I am a parent, and I have children. The way children were treated in the military courts was absolutely savage, and cannot be justified. Kids as young as 12, and up to 16 were frightened out of their wits. They had not seen their parents since they were detained. They were snatched at the dead of night, bound, put in the back of an Israeli army truck, kicked and beaten, and taken to a detention centre with no parents, no lawyers and no one at all to protect them.”

Israel’s policy of arrest and detainment of children in the West Bank, some as young as 12, has drawn heavy criticism from a number of NGOs working in the occupied territories. B’tselem reports that since September 2000 around 6500 Palestinian children have been detained in Israeli prisons, many on charges as minor as stone throwing.

A report published by Defence for Children International in June 2009 detailed widespread and repeated human rights violations against child detainees by the Israeli authorities. The report listed as common practices; torture or the threat of torture, restriction of access to legal-aid, prolonged separation from family members, the signing of confessions under duress, the signing of confessions in a foreign language and the restriction of access to an interpreter.

Richard Burden MP said that Israel’s actions were “contrary to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and to the provisions of the Geneva convention” and that he couldn’t envisage any situation “in which a child, whatever they are alleged to have done, should be manacled, shackled and denied the right to see their parents. We cannot start discriminating against someone on the basis of the offence for which they are being tried.”

Mr Burden’s comments were in sharp contrast with those of Gutu Bebb MP, who argued that context was “crucial” to the debate and that on occasion, specifically when a state finds its self threatened, it should be licensed to use means that contravene international law. He cited Britain’s conduct in Northern Ireland to support his argument and summed up by stating that sometimes “specific circumstances called for unacceptable behaviour”.

Graham Morris MP pointed out that “In 2008, bail was denied in 91% of all cases involving Palestinian children.” And “Between 2001 and 2008, over 600 complaints were filed against Israeli Security Agency interrogators for alleged ill-treatment and torture. To date, there has not been a single criminal investigation”

Stephen Twigg, the Shadow Minister for the Middle East, said that he deplored the methods employed by the Israeli government in the detainment and imprisonment of children, not only because they violated the universal principles of human rights, but also because they exacerbated tensions and undermined prospects for peace in the region.

He stated that the UK had a special responsibility when it came to upholding human rights and that the protection of such rights should be at the centre of all UK foreign policy. He concluded by urging the minister to press both the Israeli and Palestinian authorities to uphold these rights in the West Bank.

Sandra Osborne MP, who opened the debate, concluded by asking the minister to confirm on behalf of the government that Israel was in breach of the 4th Geneva Convention, that he would raise the matter personally with the Israeli prime minister and that he would make every effort to view the situation for himself when he next visited the West Bank.

The minister responded by expressing concern over a number of Israeli policies, including its use secret evidence in its prosecution of suspects, its tendency to withhold Palestinian access to lawyers and its practice of trying Palestinians under military law and Israeli settlers under civil law.

He promised the hall that the Foreign Office raised all of its concerns with the Israeli government and encouraged them to take these concerns seriously.

However, the minister admitted that often his office received no formal response from the Israelis and those responses they did receive often failed to address the issues in any detail.

He went on to say that the Foreign Office “understands” why the Israeli government chooses to not to acknowledge, let alone address, serious British concerns yet he failed to clarify the nature of this understanding and indeed why his government tacitly accepted this sort of conduct from one of its key allies.

About CAABU

CAABU works to promote a positive approach to Arab-British relations by providing an unrivalled forum for a diverse range of politicians, journalists, opinion formers and members of the public to co-operate on issues relating to the Arab world.

Founded in 1967, CAABU is jointly chaired by a British Member of Parliament from each of the three main parties and has over 120 Parliamentary members.