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"According to UN figures, since June 1967, at least 730.000 Palestinian men, women and children from the West Bank have been prosecuted in Israeli military courts and imprisoned. This works out at around 1 in 4 men and includes 500 to 700 children as young as 12 years. Reports of ill-treatment and the denial of basic fair trial rights’ standards within the system are widespread. According to Israeli and Palestinian NGO’s, in the overwhelming majority of cases, children are arrested at friction points in the West Bank, most notably, where an Israeli settlement or road used by the army and settlers has been built close to a Palestinian village in violation of international law. Although Israeli settlers living in the West Bank are also technically subject to military law, in practice they are prosecuted under civilian law with far greater rights and protections. This in turn gives rise to the discriminatory application of law based on race, nationality or origin in cases involving identical offences committed in the same territory.
"The lecture will begin with an overview of the system with reference to a typical arrest and the military objectives behind it. The focus will then shift to the main developments in the military courts since the establishment of a juvenile court in September 2009, which will be considered and assessed. The lecture will conclude with a look at some simple and practical measures that, if implemented, would make a substantive difference."
Please RSVP by Feb. 3 to secretariat@haguecoalition.org. Admission is free.
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