October 04, 2010  Two soldiers convicted for using 9-year-old boy as human shield | | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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[4 October 2010] – On 3 October 2010, the Israeli southern command military court convicted two soldiers for using nine-year-old Majed R. as a human shield on 15 January 2009, during the war in Gaza. According to Haaretz Newspaper, the soldiers were convicted of inappropriate behaviour and overstepping authority for ordering Majed, who was nine at the time, to open bags suspected of being booby trapped at gunpoint. _________________These convictions follow a joint complaint filed by DCI-Israel and DCI-Palestine with the Israeli authorities on 7 April 2009. In addition to Majed's case, the complaint requested that the authorities investigate nine other cases of children alleged to have been used as human shields between February 2007 and January 2009. As far as DCI is aware, Majed's was the only case in which the authorities opened an investigation. Further, on at least four occasions during the course of the investigation, DCI-Israel requested that the Israeli authorities provide a copy of the charge sheet for the purposes of seeking legal advice as to the appropriateness of the charges in light of the gravity of the offence. In spite of these requests, a copy of the charge sheet was never provided to DCI. DCI-Palestine welcomes the investigation and prosecution of the two soldiers who used nine-year-old Majed as a human shield, but repeat our demand that all cases of children used as human shields must be thoroughly and impartially investigated in accordance with international standards, and where appropriate, prosecutions initiated. So far in 2010, DCI-Palestine has documented two more cases of children being used as human shields. In one case, a 16-year-old girl from Nablus reported being used as a human shield by soldiers on 18 February, after soldiers stormed her house in the early hours of the morning. DCI-Palestine and Adalah lodged a complaint with the Israeli authorities calling for an investigation into the case on 20 September 2010. In the other case, a 14-year-old boy from Beit Ummar, between Bethlehem and Hebron, reported being used as a human shield by soldiers on 16 April 2010. On 3 August 2010, DCI-Palestine lodged a complaint in the case with the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture for further investigation. The boy's parents did not wish to lodge a complaint with the Israeli authorities as they have no confidence that the authorities will impartially investigate their son's case. Since April 2004, DCI-Palestine has documented 15 cases involving Palestinian children being used as human shields by the Israeli army. Fourteen of the 15 cases, occurred after the Israeli High Court of Justice ruled the practice to be illegal in October 2005, suggesting that the army is not effectively implementing the Court's decision. So far, Majed's is the only case in which an investigation has been initiated. Table 1 – Child human shield cases documented by DCI-Palestine since 2004
Related information: Haaretz: IDF soldiers convicted of using 11-year-old as human shield in Gaza BBC: Two Israeli soldiers guilty of using human shield in Gaza | | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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- DCI Israel and Palestine submit alternative report on child recruitment
- Two soldiers charged over human shield case reported by DCI
- DCI concerned by continued use of children as human shields by Israeli soldiers
- Case of 14-year-old used as a human shield submitted to the UN for investigation
- Complaint lodged in case of 16-year-old girl used as a human shield
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Israeli court reproaches two soldiers for using child as human shield
[ 04/10/2010 - 10:10 AM ]
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- An Israeli military court condemned on Sunday two Israeli soldiers for forcing a nine-year-old Palestinian child during Gaza war to approach what they suspected as explosives, but it did not take punitive measures against them.
The court panel explained that during the Israeli army's attempts to take over a residential building in Tel Al-Hawa in Gaza city on January 15 2009, the two soldiers forced the residents to gather in one place and forced the little child to look into two suitcases they found in a toilet in order to check if they contained explosives or not.
The panel also wrote in their report that the scared boy was not provided with any protective wear like the soldiers and wet his pants from the horror of the situation.
When the child failed to open one of the bags, the soldiers violently pushed him aside and opened fire at the bag which put all Palestinian civilians at the scene in danger.
This incident brought to mind many similar violations in which Israeli soldiers use civilians as human shields, including that they use neighbors to knock at the doors of raided homes to reduce the soldiers' possible exposure to fire or harm.
