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Israeli authorities isolated 108 Palestinian children in solitary confinement

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Israeli Army detaining a Palestinian child

Israeli Army detaining a Palestinian child

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Israel’s isolation of Palestinian child prisoners amounts to torture

Ramallah, December 2, 2020—Israeli authorities routinely detain Palestinian children in isolation solely for interrogation purposes, a practice that amounts to torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCIP) said in a report released today.

The 73-page report, ‘Isolated and Alone: Palestinian children held in solitary confinement by Israeli authorities for interrogation’, evaluates and details patterns of arrest, detention conditions, and interrogation practices by Israeli authorities. The report concludes that the physical and social isolation of Palestinian children for interrogation purposes by Israeli authorities is a practice that constitutes solitary confinement, amounting to torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment under international law norms.

Over a four-year period, between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2019, DCIP documented 108 cases where Palestinian children detained by the Israeli military were held in isolation for two or more days during the interrogation period.

Evidence and documentation collected by DCIP overwhelmingly indicate that the isolation of Palestinian children within the Israeli military detention system is practised solely to obtain a confession for a specific offence or to gather intelligence under interrogation. DCIP has found no evidence demonstrating a legally justifiable use of isolation of Palestinian child detainees, such as for disciplinary, protective, or medical reasons. Solitary confinement has been used, almost exclusively, during pre-charge and pretrial detention. The practice is not generally employed after children have been convicted and are serving their sentences.

‘International law prohibits the use of solitary confinement and similar measures constituting cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment against children, and yet Israeli authorities frequently detain children in this manner’, said Khaled Quzmar, General Director of DCIP. ‘It is widely acknowledged that this practice causes both immediate and long-term psychological harm to children. It must end immediately, and the prohibition must be enshrined in law’.

Isolation of Palestinian child detainees typically follows a military arrest and transfer period, during which many children are subjected to physical violence and other forms of ill-treatment. While in isolation, child detainees are without meaningful human contact, as interactions with others are often solely with their interrogator. Meals are passed to children through a flap in the door. Children also commonly report significantly worse cell conditions compared to the cells in which they were placed during other periods of detention. The conditions in isolation cells are commonly characterized by inadequate ventilation, 24-hour lighting, no windows, unsanitary bedding and toilet facilities, and hostile architectural features such as wall protrusions.

During interrogation, Israeli military law does not afford Palestinian minors the right to have a parent or lawyer present. The interrogation techniques are often mentally and physically coercive, frequently incorporating a combination of intimidation, threats, verbal abuse, and physical violence with a clear purpose of obtaining a confession.

In all 108 cases documented by DCIP, Israeli authorities interrogated Palestinian child detainees without the presence of a lawyer or family member, and children were overwhelmingly denied a consultation with a lawyer prior to interrogation. Israeli authorities use coercive tactics, including the use of informants, resulting in children unintentionally making some incriminating statements or even false confessions.

Israel has the dubious distinction of being the only country in the world that systematically prosecutes between 500 and 700 children in military courts each year. DCIP estimates that since the year 2000, Israeli military authorities have detained, interrogated, prosecuted, and imprisoned approximately 13,000 Palestinian children.

Key Findings

Of the 108 cases documented by DCIP between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2019:

• The average duration of isolation was 14.3 days.

• Nearly 40 percent (43 children), endured a prolonged period of isolation of 16 or more days.

• All cases were Palestinian boys aged between 14 and 17 years old, including 70 aged 17 years, 30 aged 16 years, seven aged 15 years, and one aged 14 years.

• In the majority of cases, Palestinian child detainees were unlawfully transferred to detention and interrogation facilities located inside Israel operated or controlled by the Israel Prison Service (IPS) and Israel Security Agency in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

‣ At least 52 children were held at Al-Jalame (also known as Kishon) interrogation and detention centre;

‣ At least 29 children were held at Petah Tikva interrogation and detention centre;

‣ At least 32 were held at Megiddo prison; and

‣ At least 14 were held at Al-Mascobiyya interrogation and detention centre.

• In 102 out of 108 cases (94 percent), children had no access to a legal consultation prior to interrogations.

• In all 108 cases, children had no lawyer or family member present during the interrogation.

• 62 children (57 percent) reported that interrogators did not properly inform them of their rights before interrogation, including their right to silence.

• In 86 cases (80 percent), children held in isolation reported being subject to stress positions during interrogation, most commonly having their limbs tied to a low metal chair for prolonged periods, a position they described as acutely painful.

• In 73 cases (68 percent), children were exposed to informants while detained in isolation. Many of these children were later confronted with incriminating statements made to the informant during a subsequent interrogation.

• DCIP finds that the physical and social isolation of Palestinian children for interrogation purposes by Israeli authorities is a practice that constitutes solitary confinement, which amounts to torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.

This article originally appeared on the Defense for Children International – Palestine website.

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Documents of the Communist Party of Peru

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Long Live the People's War!

Long Live the People’s War!

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Documents of the Communist Party of Peru

The People’s War, initiated on 17th May 1980 by the Communist Party of Peru, was one of the most significant revolutionary events of the late 20th century. Although there had been many revolutionary movements in Central and Latin America since the end of World War Two the revolution in Peru was the first led by a Party that followed a clear Marxist-Leninist ideology. Through the lessons learnt and from the experiences gained in the first seven to eight years of the struggle the Party also put forward the argument that Marxism-Leninism had developed (also through the experiences in China up to 1976) to a new and higher form, that of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.

Following the Maoist principals of acting like fish in water the Party (also known by outsiders under the name Sendero Luminoso – Shining Path) embedded itself amongst the exploited and oppressed in the Andean countryside and established such a power base that there was a real chance of the collapse of the capitalist state in Peru.

That was not to be due to the capture of Abimael Guzmán-Presidente Gonzalo, the chairman of the Party on September 12th 1992.

However, the Party did produce a considerable amount of material, most of it written by Presidente Gonzalo, which analysed the struggle of Marxist-Leninist-Maoist revolutionaries in a period following the success of the revisionists and ‘capitalist-roaders’ in the People’s Republic of China.

Although severely damaged by the capture of Abimael Guzmán the Party (and the People’s War) continued in Peru, with the Party continuing to produce statements and other material for a number of years. However, the dependence of the Party (from its earliest days) on a single leader meant that the struggle was never able to regain the momentum of the 1980s. The reasons for this collapse of the People’s War is something that needs investigation at some time in the future.

Collected writings of the Communist Party of Peru

The Collected Writings of the Communist Party of Peru, Volumes 1-4, 1968-1999, n.p., n.d., (2016?), 1,116 pages.

Collected Works of the Communist Party of Peru, Volume 1, 1968-1987, published by Christophe Kistler & Josef Hallqvist, Utrecht, 2016, 464 pages.

‘This publication of the Collected Works of the PCP shows the necessity for all the communists and revolutionaries in the world to put Marxism-Leninism-Maoism into practice, and to study Gonzalo Thought, that is the creative application of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism in Peru, and is, so far, the greatest attempt to develop the fourth stage of Marxism.’

The Collected Works of The Communist Party of Peru, Volume 2, 1988-1990, n.p., n.d., (2016?), 329 pages.

The Fundamental Documents, The General Political Line, Interview With Chairman Gonzalo, and Elections, no! People’s war, yes!

Collected Works of The Communist Party of Peru, Volume 3, 1991-1992, n.p., n.d., 561 pages.

Contains; Concerning The Two Hills, Preparatory Session of The II Plenum, II Plenum – Fundamentals Of Political Ideology, II Plenum Of The Central Committee Building The Conquest Of Power In The Midst Of The People’s War, May Directives For Metropolitan Lima, On The Rectification Campaign Based On The Document Elections, No! People’s War, Yes!, May The Strategic Stalemate Shake The Country More! Fundamental Political Questions: Bases Of Discussion Of The III Plenum, III Plenum, III Plenum: Meeting Of The Central Leadership With The Northern Regional Committee, and Speech By Chairman Gonzalo.

The Collected Works of the Communist Party of Peru, Volume 4, 1993-1999, n.p., n.d., 91 pages.

Table of Contents: 1992 – Resolution of the Central Committee 1993 – Declaración 1994 – Reaffirm Our Basis of Party Unity 1994 – Long Live Chairman Gonzalo and his 19 All-Powerful Thought! 1995 – Prepare the Strategic Offensive Through the Construction of the Conquest of Power 1995 – Against the Country Selling and Genocidal Dictatorship, Persist in the People’s War! 1995 – Overcome the Bend in the Road, Developing the People’s War! 1996 – Notes to Typify the Regime as Fascist 1996 – Political Report 1997 – Note on the Political Situation 1998 – Unite the People Against the Fascist, Genocidal and Country-selling Dictatorship, Developing the People’s War Further! 1998 – Peruvian People! People of Alto Huallaga! The Communist Party of Peru Once Again Denounces the Genocidal Politics and the Sinister Persecution of the Prisoners of War and Their Families as Part of the Genocidal Politics of the Peruvian State 1998 – Actions of the People’s Liberation Army in the Departments of San Martin, Huanuco and Ucayali 1999 – Struggle Implacably Against Capitulation! Unmask and Liquidate the Traitors! Unmask and Crush the Psychological Warfare Campaign of the Reactionary Fascists! 1999 – the Speech by Our Great Leadership Is a Combat Weapon That Shines Victoriously and Powerfully Before the World

Individual works listed by year

Those links below which are not followed by further information are to documents that were obtained by way of optical recognition software from original material. Although these documents have been checked there’s a chance that typographical mistakes might well still exist. Apologies for that.

This is not the complete collection of material. There are still a number of documents from 1990 onwards to be added. They will be in due course.

As will also be noticed the vast majority of the material is only in Spanish.

1968

Para Entender a Mariátegui

1970

América Latina – Guerra Popular

1974

La Problemática Naciónal

1975

Retomemos a Mariátegui y reconstituyamos su partido

1976

El Problema Campesino y La Revolución

Sobre la Construcción del Partido

1978

Against constitutional illusions for the state of new democracy, Central Committee of the Communist Party of Peru, n.p., n.d., (1978), 29 pages.

Contra las Ilusiones Constitucionales por el Estado de Nueva Democracia

1979

Desarrollemos la Creciente Protesta Popular

Por la Nueva Bandera

Sobre Tres Capitulos de Nuestra Historia

1980

We begin to topple the walls and unfold a new dawn, n.p., n.d., (1980), 17 pages.

We are the initiators, From the First Military School, April 19, 1980, 9 pages.

Comenzamos a Derrumbar los Muros y a Desplegar la Aurora

Hacia la Guerra de Guerrillas

1981

Viva la Lucha Armada de Nuestro Pueblo

1982

Desarrollemos la Guerra de Guerrillas

1985

Two important documents of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Peru: Develop Guerilla Warfare and Don’t Vote! Instead, expand the Guerilla War to Seize Power for the People!, The Committee to Support the Revolution in Peru, Berkeley, 1985, 36 pages.

1986

Nada ni Nadie Podra Derrotarnos

1987

1 de mayo: Por la Revolución Proletaria Mundial, Viva el Marxismo-Leninismo-Maoísm! Partido Comunista De España, May 1987, 2 pages. Endorsed by the Partido Comunista del Perú

Dar la Vida por el Partido y la Revolutión

1988

First Party Congress of the Communist Party of Peru

On Gonzalo Thought

On Marxism-Leninism-Maoism

Both documents released in early 1988.

Communist Party of Peru – Programme – assumed to have been adopted at the 1st Congress.

The General Political Line, n.p., n.d., (1988), 127 pages.

Bases de Discusión de la Línea Polítical General

Documentos Fundamentales

El PCP y el Maoísmo

1989

Guerra Popular en el Perú, El Pensamiento Gonzalo, Volume 1, edited by Luis Arce Borja, Lima, 1989. 418 pages. (Some highlighting and underlining.)

Entrevista con el Presidente Gonzalo

Interview with Chairman Gonzalo. Interview with the Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Peru conducted by the editors of El Diario newspaper. The interview took place in July 1988. Committee to Support the Revolution in Peru, Berkley, 1991. 105 pages.

El Partido, la Guerra Popular y el Boicot, Comite Central, Partido Communist del Peru, Ediciones Bandera Roja, reproducido por el Movimiento Popular Peru en Francia, 1989, 191 pages. Collection of articles published between 1977 and 1988 (in Spanish).

1990

Honor y Gloria al Proletariado y al Pueblo del Perú! Comité Central del Partido Comunista del Perú, Ediciones Bandera Roja, 1990, May 1990, 2 pages.

En conmemoración del 40 anniversario de la Revolutión China, Comité Central del Partido Comunista del Perú, Ediciones Bandera Roja, 1990, 12 pages.

Elecciones, No! Guerra Popular, Si!, Ediciones Bandera Roja, reproducido por el Movimiento Popular Perú en Francia, 192 pages.

Elecciones, No! Guerra Popular, Si!

1992

In Defense of the Leadership, against the Genocidal Dictatorship! President Gonzalo’s speech, September 24th, 1992, on the historic occasion of his arrest. PCP Base, Lima, October 1992, 4 pages.

Quien es el Presidente Gonzalo?, Colombia, 1992, 12 pages. Reproduction of three articles from the newspaper El Diario. Published very soon after Presidente Gonzalo’s capture in September 1992. (Apologies for poor reproduction.)

Resolution and Statement of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Peru, December 1992, 4 pages.

Crush down the genocidal plan against the Prisoners of War! Prisoners of War, Canto Grande, Shining Trench of Combat, December 1992, 2 pages.

Aplastar el Plan de Genocido contra Los Prisoneros de Guerra! Prisoneros de Guerra, Luminosa Trinchera de Combate de Canto Grande, December 1992, 4 pages.

Resolution, Comité Central, Partido Comunista del Perú, (Pensamiento Gonzalo), December 1992, Reproduced by MPP, France, 4 pages.

1993

Para Armado 28 – 29 enero, Partido Comunista del Perú, Base Puno, 1993, leaflet, 1 page.

Letter of the Association des Amis de la République Populaire du Pérou en formation (AARPP), February 1993. In French.

Victory to the Armed Strike may 17, 18 and 19, Classist Movement of the Shanytowns, Lima Base, Lima, May 1993, 2 pages.

Gloria al Dia de la Resistencia Heroica! Primero Aniversario, Comité de Socorro Popular del Perú, May 1993, 161 pages. Unfortunately this was taken from a poor copy of the original and some pages are difficult to understand. However, the book is quite unique in the pictures that accompany the timeline – it’s almost a graphic novel. Some of the indistinct pages are of documents that can be found in other locations in this post so it’s hoped that not all information and understanding will be lost.

Gloria al Dia de la Heroicidad! Dia de la Heroicidad! Tercer Aniversario, Comité Central del Partido Comunista del Perú, junio 1987, reproducido por el Moviemiento Popular Perú en Francis, junio 1993, 227 pages.

Acuerdo de paz – letter (supposedly) from Abimael Guzmán and Elena Iparraguirre to Fujimori dated 6th October 1993.

Three summaries of World Broadcasts by the British Broadcasting Corporation in response to the above letter. Strangely the first is dated 4th October 1993, two days before the letter was purportedly sent.

Declaration of the Comité Central del Partido Comunista del Perú, 7th October, 1993, 4 pages. The initial response by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Peru to the publication of ‘letters’ from the imprisoned Abimael Guzmán (Presidente Gonzalo).

Draft translation of the CC of the CPC – Workers of the World Unite!, 7th October 1993, 2 pages.

Declaration of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Peru, ‘Workers of the World Unite!’, 7th October, 1993. Published online by the Committee to Support the Revolution in Peru. And English translation of the initial response of the CC of the CPP to the ‘letter’ from President Gonzalo.

Guerra Popular en el Perú, El Pensamiento Gonzalo, Tomo 2, edited by Luis Arce Borja, Germany, October, 1993. 303 pages. (Some highlighting and underlining.)

Luchar por un Acuerdo de Paz y Sentar Bases para el II Congreso! (Acuerdo de Paz, Lucha de Clases y Lucha de Dos Lineas), Prisoneros de las Luminosas Trincheras de Combate, Peru, November 1993, 24 pages. A potentially suspect document due to the speed at which it appeared so soon after Abimael Guzmán’s ‘letter” from prison.

1994

Reaffirm Our Party Basis of Unity and Build the Seizure of Power, Report by the Central Committee, February 1994

Programme of the Communist Party of Peru, in both English and Spanish. No publisher and ND – but assumed to be 1994. 6 pages.

Draft translation of ‘Prounciamiento’ from El Diario, 631, ‘Unite the people to defend the headquarters, against the sell out murderous dictatorship’. Committee of Relatives of Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War and Disappeared in Peru. December 3rd 1993. Lima, January 1994, 3 pages.

Asumir y Combatir por la Nueva Decisión y Nueva Definición!, edited by the German Popular Movement of Peru, Hamburg Anti-imperialist Group, May 1994, 45 pages.

Take up and Fight for a New Decision and a New Definition, ND – but assumed to be 1994, 10 pages. Argument in favour of capitulation.

1995

Overcome the Bend in the Road, Developing the People’s War! Central Committee, Communist Party of Peru (September 1995).

1997

Revolutionaries or Vulgar Shysters? – MRTA: The Guerilla of Peace Talks, Luis Arce Borja, Brussels, Belgium, January 27th 1997. Translated, printed and published by Committee Sol Peru, London, Press Commission, 1997, 4 pages.

2002

Marxism, Mariátegui and the Feminist Movement, Delhi, 2002, 26 pages.

2016

Por el 88 Aniversario del Partido Comunista del Perú, Comité Central, Partido Comunista del Perú, octobre del 2016, 4 pages.

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Israeli forces break Palestinian boy’s jaw during arrest

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Mohammad's hands and feet shackled

Mohammad’s hands and feet shackled

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Israeli forces break Palestinian boy’s jaw during arrest

Ramallah, December 8, 2020—Israeli authorities transferred a 16-year-old Palestinian boy on Thursday directly to an Israeli prison from the hospital where he was recovering from surgery the day before for injuries sustained during his arrest.

Mohammad Muneer Mohammad Moqbel, 16, was detained by Israeli forces around 9 a.m. on November 29 from Arroub refugee camp, located north of the occupied West Bank city of Hebron. Moqbel sustained a broken jaw when an Israeli soldier struck him in the face with a rifle stock after he was already in Israeli custody, according to documentation collected by Defense for Children International – Palestine.

Mohammad had left home for school that morning but arrived to find his school closed. He returned home and later went out to the store, where he encountered Israeli forces firing tear gas and stun grenades in the camp. Mohammad sought shelter in a nearby house. An Israeli soldier followed him into the house and detained him, according to information collected by DCIP.

Mohammad told DCIP that an Israeli soldier struck him in the face with a rifle stock and then he was physically assaulted by at least three other Israeli soldiers for about 10 minutes.

“They slapped me and kicked me all over my body,” Mohammad told DCIP. “I had bruises on my back, knees, and shoulders. My mouth, jaw, and chin were bleeding. They also broke two of my teeth.”

“Israeli soldiers frequently use excessive force without justification when detaining Palestinian children,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, Accountability Program director at DCIP. “Israeli forces know that systemic impunity will allow them to continue to subject unnecessary violence against Palestinian children without ever being held accountable.”

Since 1967, Israel has operated two separate legal systems in the same territory. In the occupied West Bank, Israeli settlers are subject to the civilian and criminal legal system whereas Palestinians live under military law.

Israel has the dubious distinction of being the only country in the world that automatically and systematically prosecutes children in military courts that lack fundamental fair trial rights and protections. Israel prosecutes between 500 and 700 Palestinian children in military courts each year.

Israeli forces placed Mohammad in the back of a military vehicle on the metal floor alongside three other Palestinian children detained during the raid. They were transferred to Karmei Tzur, an illegal Israeli settlement two miles south of Arroub camp. During the transfer, Israeli soldiers subjected Mohammad and the other children to physical violence and insults, according to information collected by DCIP.

Mohammad was detained, bound and blindfolded, on the ground for two hours at Karmei Tzur, and then transferred to Israel’s Etzion interrogation and detention center.

Despite a bloodied face and injured jaw, he was not provided with any medical treatment and was subject to two interrogation sessions without the presence of a family member or a lawyer. Israeli interrogators accused him of throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at Israeli forces.

Israeli military law provides no right to legal counsel during interrogation, and Israeli military court judges seldom exclude confessions obtained by coercion or torture.

After his second interrogation session ended around 6 p.m., Israeli forces detained Mohammad outside, bound and blindfolded, for close to six hours. He was brought indoors around midnight.

Israeli forces transferred Mohammad to Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital in Jerusalem around 3 a.m. on November 30. Doctors examined and X-rayed his jaw and confirmed it was broken. Doctors operated on Mohammad on December 2 inserting four screws and platinum to reconnect his jaw and broken teeth.

Mohammad’s detention was extended for a period of six days on December 1 by a military judge at Israel’s Ofer Military Court so an indictment could be filed against him, according to Iyad Misk, a DCIP lawyer providing legal representation to Mohammad. Mohammad was subsequently charged by a military prosecutor with throwing stones and Molotov cocktails.

Israeli forces shackled Mohammad’s hands and feet while he was recovering in bed and placed his hospital room under guard.

On December 3, Mohammad was transferred to Israel’s Megiddo prison located inside Israel, north of the occupied West Bank. While a bail request was granted on December 6, he remains in pretrial detention at Megiddo prison as the Israeli military prosecutor has appealed the decision. The next hearing before Israel’s Military Court of Appeals is scheduled for December 10.

Physical violence and ill-treatment of Palestinian child detainees is widespread and institutionalized in the Israeli military detention system, according to evidence collected by DCIP.

International law and norms require law enforcement officers to use reasonable and proportional force to carry out a lawful arrest. International juvenile justice standards, which Israel has an obligation to implement after ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991, include an absolute prohibition against torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.

In October, Amer Abdel-Rahim Snobar, 16, was beaten and killed by Israeli soldiers near the occupied West Bank village of Turmus’ayya. An autopsy found that he likely died from asphyxiation as a result of strangulation, according to information collected by DCIP.

The United Nations Committee against Torture, an independent body that monitors the implementation of the U.N. Convention against Torture, has concluded that the use of excessive force by law enforcement or military personnel may amount to torture and ill-treatment. When determining if certain acts constitute torture, the child’s age must be taken into account.

This article first appeared on the Defense for Children International – Palestine website.

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