“Israel furious at UN report detailing torture of Palestinian children”
Israel’s security forces have been accused by a United Nations monitoring group of torturing and tormenting Palestinian children.
By Phoebe Greenwood, Tel Aviv – 5:29PM BST 21 Jun 2013 [The Telegraph UK]
The Committee on the Rights of Children, a body of independent legal experts charged by the UN with the task of monitoring the protection of children’s rights in signatory states, has urged Israel to honour its responsibility to prevent the torture and ill-treatment of children. ….
The report prompted a furious response from Israel, countering that the findings are “not based on any direct investigation on the ground, only on documents gathered from secondary sources.” ….
Yigal Palmor, spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, described the report’s allegations that Israel did not comply with requests for information as a “bold, scandalous lie”. Its allegations that Palestinian children are being used as informers and human shields, he added, are also deliberately misleading.
“The [committee] were fully informed that instructions have indeed been issued and that the use of children as human shields is totally forbidden. Yet the authors pretend there never was any such communication by Israel,” Mr Palmor said. …
The Telegraph UK – Foto: UNHCR logo