Palestine Solidarity - Aotearoa
Petition to the House of Representatives

Petition request

That the House of Representatives call for an urgent study by the Subcommittee on International Human Rights of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development to review Israel’s treatment of children in Israeli occupied Palestine and compliance with its obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Petition reason

Considering:

• The protection of the rights of children around the world is a priority of the New Zealand government;

• As signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Israel has an obligation to ensure basic due process rights and the absolute prohibition against torture and ill-treatment of children in accordance with international juvenile justice standards;

• The Secretary General of the United Nations 2019 report on children and armed conflict on June 20, 2019, reiterated the Special Representative’s "call upon Israel to uphold international juvenile justice standards, as well as to cease the use of administrative detention for children and end all forms of ill-treatment in detention, and to cease any attempted recruitment of detained children as informants”;

• Israel automatically and systematically prosecutes children in military courts that lack fundamental fair trial rights and protections;

• For over 30 years, Defense for Children International Palestine, Al-Haq and other human rights groups have investigated, documented, and exposed human rights violations against children; and

• Under Article 1 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, all high signatories, of which New Zealand is one, are required to take actions to ensure that violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention do not occur under any circumstance.