GENEVA – Palestinian children are being left increasingly unprotected as human rights defenders and humanitarian organisations are forced to halt or scale back their work in the occupied Palestinian territories, including Gaza and the West Bank, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child warned today.
The Committee condemned in the strongest terms Israel’s recent repressive tactics of labelling human rights defenders and other civil society organisations as terrorists. The Committee said these tactics have been coupled with military raids, travel bans, personal financial sanctions, threats of arrest, destruction of records, and even threats of secondary sanctions against partners who support their work, making it increasingly impossible for these organisations to operate safely or protect the children and families who turn to them for help.
The Committee was deeply concerned that organisations supporting children on the ground are being forced to cease or curtail their operations because of sustained harassment, threats, bans, sanctions and attacks on their reputations.
“For more than three decades, these organisations have played a vital role in defending Palestinian children, including in the Israeli military courts, and in documenting grave violations against Palestinian children at the hands of Israeli forces,” the Committee said.
“Without them, Palestinian children will be even less protected, and violations of their rights risk continuing with impunity,” it added.
The Committee called on Israel to immediately lift all restrictions and obstacles facing child rights defenders and humanitarian organisations in the occupied Palestinian territories, including Gaza and the West Bank, and to allow them to carry out their work safely and independently.
It also urged the international community to use all available means to hold Israeli authorities accountable for attacks and repression targeting Palestinian human rights defenders, and to prioritise the lives and rights of Palestinian children.
The Committee recalled its General Comment No. 5, which recognises the essential role of non-governmental organisations and child rights coalitions in promoting, protecting and monitoring children’s rights, and urges States to support and maintain constructive relationships with them.
“Despite grave risks and limited resources, child rights defenders have continued to stand with Palestinian children and families in extraordinarily dangerous conditions,” the Committee said. “They must be protected, not punished.”
