AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Public Statement

AI Index: MDE 15/033/2005 (Public)
News Service No: 134
23 May 2005
http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE150332005

Israel/Occupied Territories: Palestinian armed groups must not use children

Amnesty International reiterates its calls to Palestinian armed groups to
put an immediate end to the use of children in armed activities.

"Palestinian armed groups must not use children under any circumstances to
carry out armed attacks or to transport weapons or other material", Amnesty
International said.

On 22 May 2005 a 15-year-old Palestinian child carrying explosive was
arrested by the Israeli army at the Huwara military checkpoint, at the
entrance to the West Bank town of Nablus.

This is the third such incident this year in which Palestinian children have
been arrested at Israeli military checkpoints while carrying explosives or
munitions. On 3 February a 17-year-old was arrested at the same checkpoint
while carrying explosives and bullets, and on 27 April two 15-year-olds also
carrying explosives and bullets were arrested at a military checkpoint at
the entrance of the West Bank town of Jenin.

Several Palestinian armed groups, including the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades,
an offshoot of the ruling Fatah party, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the
Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), have used children
to transport explosives and munitions, thereby endangering their lives. In
some cases these groups have sent children to carry out suicide attacks.

On 1 November 2004 a 16-year-old Palestinian from the West Bank town of
Nablus carried out a suicide bombing which killed three Israeli civilians in
a Tel Aviv market. He was the youngest Palestinian to carry out such an
attack. The PFLP claimed responsibility for the attack. The boy's family
condemned those who used their child for the attack.

Palestinian armed groups have repeatedly shown total disregard for the most
fundamental human rights, notably the right to life, by deliberately
targeting Israeli civilians and by using Palestinian children in armed
attacks. Children are susceptible to recruitment by manipulation or may be
driven to join armed groups for a variety of reasons, including a desire to
avenge relatives or friends killed by the Israeli army.

In recent years, Palestinian children have borne the brunt of the suffering
caused by the conflict and have frequently been the victims of Israeli army
attacks in the Occupied Territories. More than 600 Palestinian children have
been killed and thousands have been injured by the Israeli army in the past
four and a half years (1). Some 25 have been killed this year alone.
Hundreds of thousands of others have been prevented from going to school and
effectively confined to their homes by Israeli army blockades and curfews.
Others have repeatedly been attacked on their way to school by Israeli
settlers who continue to carry out such attacks with impunity.

Thousands of Palestinian children have been arrested by the Israeli army and
hundreds are currently detained and accused of security offences. Many of
those detained have been ill-treated or tortured by Israeli forces and some
have been forced or pressured to become "collaborators" with Israeli
intelligence services. Such practices by Israeli forces violate
international human rights and humanitarian law.

"The exploitation of children, who are often particularly vulnerable or
traumatized, by armed groups and armed forces must cease at once, as must
the killing of children, and those responsible for such crimes must be
brought to justice", said Amnesty International.

(1). In the same period 108 Israeli children and have killed and hundreds of
others injured by Palestinian armed groups in deliberate attacks against
Israeli civilians in Israel and in the Occupied Territories.

AI Index: MDE 15/033/2005 23 May 2005