[child-rights] Child sentenced to 6 months jail for throwing stones

At the end of 2002, child sentenced to 6 months jail for throwing stones
Tuesday, December 31, 2002

Yesterday, Monday, December 30, Zakir 'Arar (16) from Qarara Bani Zeid
near Ramallah was sentenced to 6 months administrative detention from
December 23 2002 until June 22, 2003. The charge, warranting six months
jail was rock throwing and posing a danger to the security of the region.
LAW's lawyer, Jawad al-Imawi, noted that Zakir is a student, with no past
conviction behind him.

 >From October until December, LAW represented 9 fifteen year-olds, 18
sixteen year-olds, 22 seventeen year-olds and 23 eighteen year-olds ­ in
total, 72 children. Under Israel's 'civil administration' (i.e., military
rule) of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, a child from the age of 12 can be
tried in a court, although for Israeli civilians it is 18-years.

Administrative detention is ordered by Israeli military officers in
charge of security issues in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, except
for East Jerusalem. There are at least 1,950 Palestinians currently in
detention because of administrative detention. An administrative detainee
is sentenced to a certain period, usually six months. However the period
is subject to extension to an indefinite period.

Israel has used this measure against Palestinian detainees whom they
failed to prove guilty or had no intention to try at a court of law. With
so many Palestinians having been administratively detained it appears
that the Israeli authorities have used this measure indiscriminately, and
made little attempt to have their practices in this area conform to
international law.

When a detainee is sentenced to administrative detention, the sentencing
does not come from a judge in a court session unless the sentence exceeds
six months.

Administrative detention is a blatant violation of human rights. The
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights stipulates that 'no
one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention'. Pursuant to the
Fourth Geneva Convention, this measure may not be used as a means of
punishment and must only serve as an exceptional measure taken
for 'imperative reasons of security'. Moreover, persons must be
imprisoned 'within the frontiers of the occupied country itself,' and
during detention the Occupying Power must 'ensure support of [the person]
and his dependents.' In addition, according to humanitarian principles
governing administrative detention, those detained without charge or
trial are to receive greater privileges than ordinary prisoners.

It is highly questionable whether 'imperative reasons of security' demand
that persons be detained without charge, trial, or the right to have
their detention adequately reviewed by an impartial body.

Administrative detention sentencing is based on Paragraphs A and B of
Article 87 of Military Order number 378 of 1970. Paragraph A states that
the military commander may, 'for security and public safety reasons, hold
a person in custody upon an order signed by him'. However, 'the period of
custody shall not exceed six months [later changed to 1 year].'

Paragraph B of the same article stipulates: 'If a military commander of a
region has a base to believe that on the eve of expiration of the order
issued in compliance with Paragraph A, that for security and public
safety reasons that require remanding the detained person in custody, he
may extend the original order to a period not exceeding six months. Each
order of extensions shall be considered an original order.'

Israel's treatment of administrative detainees, including the location
and conditions of their detention, contravenes not only international
human rights standards but also the provisions of the Fourth Geneva
Convention. For many years, Israel has abused the system of
administrative detention using it to punish without charge or trial those
it believes have acted against its interests, rather than as an
extraordinary and selectively used preventative measure. Existing
safeguards fail to prevent violations of the detainees' fundamental human
rights, including the right to defense, the right to a fair and public
hearing, the right to call and examine witnesses and the presumption of
innocence. The use of secret evidence, coupled with arbitrary procedures,
leaves those detained without charge or trial with no effective legal
safeguards. Under these circumstances, administrative detention is
prohibited by international law.

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LAW - The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the
Environment is a non-governmental organization dedicated to preserving
human rights through legal advocacy. LAW is affiliate to the
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), the International Federation
for Human Rights (FIDH), and the World Organization Against Torture
(OMCT).

LAW - The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the
Environment, PO Box 20873, Jerusalem, tel. +972-2-5833530, fax. +972-2-
5833317, law@lawsociety.org, www.lawsociety.org.