2020-06-03

Gaza

Gaza / position paper

His Excellency the Head of Military Justice, Dr. Ayaman Noufal, / Gaza

Subject: Arresting a Juvenile by the Internal Security Agency in Gaza and Denying him the Needed Medical Care

MUSAWA- The Palestinian Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession extends its warmest greetings to you, noting that the center received a complaint from Omar Ali Farhat, from Deir Al-Balah/Gaza, stating that his 16-year-old juvenile son, M.F, has been detained by the internal security for almost a month, following his arrest by the director of the internal security in his area (we have reservations about mentioning his name), who promised the complainant that he would be released after 5 days, but failed to honor his word. The complainant added that his son, who suffers from mental illness, is still detained to date, that he is unable to visit or contact him to date, and that the body detaining him did not provide him the needed medical treatment, not transferred him to sick juvenile detention centers.

The complainant stated that the Internal Security Service had previously arrested his son and released him after five months for his poor health condition; claiming that it was the direct cause of his psychological and physical illnesses, which the Internal Security Service was aware of and yet detained him again.

MUSAWA believes that the contents of the complaint, if true, constitute a direct violation of the rights of juveniles, reveal that they are subject to ill-treatment, and disclose that those responsible for detaining the sick child neglect their job duties by failing to provide health care to the mentioned juvenile, on the assumption that there are legal grounds for his detention, for not transferring him to sick juvenile detention centers, and for keeping him in detained by the internal security service for a long time, contrary to the Basic Law, the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Juvenile Code, and international conventions and covenants governing children's rights; to which the state of Palestine is bound, which guaranteed the juveniles’ right of physical and psychological integrity and required ensuring their best interest under the supervision of competent and specialized institutions.

We, therefore, call on you to take the appropriate legal requirement to ensure that the juvenile is immediately released or brought to trial before the competent juvenile court while providing him with the medical requirements necessary to treat him during his legal detention, which must be served in a sick juvenile detention center that takes into account the best interest of the juvenile. In addition, we demand you to enable the defendant and his family to visit their sick juvenile regularly, to take all necessary measures and means to ensure his safety and dignity and to reply to this memo duly.

With All Due Respect,

MUSAWA

Issued on 3/6/2020

Attachments:

-A copy of the complaint