JERUSALEM: Israeli human rights group B'Tselem criticises the detention of five year old Palestinian boy by the Israeli army for throwing a stone in Hebron as shocking

Record ID: 174092

  • Title: JERUSALEM: Israeli human rights group B'Tselem criticises the detention of five year old Palestinian boy by the Israeli army for throwing a stone in Hebron as shocking
  • Date: 12th July 2013
  • Summary: JERUSALEM (JULY 12, 2013) (REUTERS) JESSICA MONTELL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF ISRAELI HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP B'TSELEM SPEAKING TO REPORTER MONTELL MOVING HER HANDS (SOUNDBITE) (English) JESSICA MONTELL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF ISRAELI HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP B'TSELEM, SAYING: "I would hope that everyone would be shocked, both to see the drama that this five-year-old boy went through, also for me it is very shocking to see how calm everyone is about this incident - the fact that half a dozen soldiers can be so matter of fact, that no one says that is it absurd to be detaining a five-year-old boy. Even their commander, who comes and reprimands them because it looks bad on camera, not because actually abusing the boy and his father who was handcuffed, blindfolded, although no one says that the father did anything wrong. So I hope that this is sort of a wake up call to the Israeli military that soldiers have to understand that this sort of behavior is wrong." MONTELL MOVING HER HANDS (SOUNDBITE) (English) JESSICA MONTELL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF ISRAELI HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP B'TSELEM, SAYING: "Well, children are entitled to special protections, I mean they have all of the rights that we have. They have also have special rights, because they are vulnerable, particularly vulnerable. So certainly an investigation should be opened into this case. The family is entitled to some sort of reparation for wrongful detention, I would hope that an investigation would be opened quickly and both the soldiers and the commanders, I mean either disciplinary measure or in other way make it clear to them that they can't repeat this behavior." VARIOUS OF MONTELL SPEAKING TO REPORTER
  • Embargoed: 27th July 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Jerusalem
  • City:
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: Crime,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVACHPPZ3KCXTFNJ38XHZWATIBPP
  • Story Text: The Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, which released video of the detention of a five-year-old Palestinian boy for throwing a stone in Hebron, criticised the Israeli army on Friday (July 12) for not abiding by international conventions that Israel has signed.
    Jessica Montell, spokesperson for the group, said the detention of the young child was shocking, particularly because the soldiers behaved in such a "matter of fact" manner.
    "I would hope that everyone would be shocked, both to see the drama that this five-year-old boy went through, also for me it is very shocking to see how calm everyone is about this incident - the fact that half a dozen soldiers can be so matter of fact, that no one says that is it absurd to be detaining a five-year-old boy," Montell said, speaking to Reuters in Jerusalem.
    "Even their commander, who comes and reprimands them because it looks bad on camera, not because actually abusing the boy and his father who was handcuffed, blindfolded, although no one says that the father did anything wrong. So I hope that this is sort of a wake up call to the Israeli military that soldiers have to understand that this sort of behavior is wrong," she added.
    Video footage taken by B'Tselem of Tuesday's (July 9) incident showed Wadi Maswadeh crying as he was surrounded by soldiers on a Hebron street. He was then made to board a military jeep accompanied by a Palestinian adult.
    Maswadeh later said he had been throwing a stone at a dog.
    But in a statement, the Israeli army said Maswadeh's stone-throwing had endangered passers-by.
    Montell said she hoped the family would receive some sort of redress for the detention of both the child and his father.
    "Certainly an investigation should be opened into this case. The family is entitled to some sort of reparation for wrongful detention, I would hope that an investigation would be opened quickly and both the soldiers and the commanders, I mean either disciplinary measure or in other way make it clear to them that they can't repeat this behavior," she said.
    In a report released in June, the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child accused Israeli forces of mistreating Palestinian children, including torturing those in custody, using others as human shields and denying them registration of their birth and access to health care, decent schools and clean water.
    Arab residents and Jewish settlers live side by side in Hebron's old city, which has often been a flashpoint in the occupied West Bank.
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