Two human rights experts called for a neutral and independent investigation, and expressed serious concerns over the absence of accountability in relation to the forces’ murder of Palestinian children the past years.
The most recent murder was the killing of the child Ali Abu Alya on December 4th. The occupation’s soldiers shot him during a protest in Al-Mughayyir village against the construction of nearby settlement unit.
The UN’s civil society organization and Human Rights’ Office - Occupied Palestinian Territory revealed information about how the occupation’s forces shot Abu Alya from 100-150m distance.
Michael Lynk, Special Rapporteur on Occupied Territories since 1967, and Agnès Callamard, Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Execution, said in a statement that the occupation’s killing of Abu Alya was not in response to killing or injury threats to these troops.
His murder was a clear violation of the International Law. The experts also said that the child Ali Abu Alya was the 6th Palestinian child to live in the West Bank and get killed by the soldiers with bullets.
They pointed to the civil society organizations’ documentation of the martyrdom of 155 Palestinian children who were killed by the soldiers’ bullets or weapons used for crowd containment since 2013.
Only three indictments were issued on the crimes related to the killings. In the first case, the charges were dropped. In the second one, the soldier responsible reached a settlement with the prosecution and was sentenced 9 months for causing the death of someone due to negligence.
In the third case, the soldier was prosecuted for disobeying orders and was sentenced one month in a military prison. The experts called for the implementation of an independent civil investigation in line with international criteria or of a neutral and independent international review by the Human Rights’ Office.
The investigation should guarantee the safety of children living under occupation without being subjected to murder or injury while practicing their right to protest. The culture of escaping punishment for bad military behavior is over.
According to the received information, 1048 Palestinian children were wounded in all areas of the occupied lands from January 1st, 2019 until December 31, 2020.
