2020-02-11

Gaza

Human Rights Defenders / Gaza / position paper

MUSAWA Demands Results of Investigation on Alleged Assault at a Juvenile Center in Gaza to be Announced

His Excellency Attorney General, Diaa Al-Dein Al-Madhoun, / Gaza

Subject: The need to announce the Results of Investigation on Alleged Assault at a Juvenile Center in Gaza and to the legal requirements taken in that regard

MUSAWA – The Palestinian Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession extends its warmest greetings to your Excellency, expressing its surprise that you did not publish the results of the investigations you announced initiating regarding the alleged assault against several juvenile inmates at Al-Rabi' Foundation for Social Welfare, following the leak of a video that recorded the incident on social media, which may be considered evidence of torturing juveniles, agitating public opinion.

MUSAWA believes that it is our duty to call upon you to announce the results of the investigation, to clarify the legal requirement taken by you side concerning the torture of juveniles, who are inmates of a foundation established to provide care and protection for the juveniles, and to guarantee their best interest, human dignity and their physical and psychological integrity, in conformity with the provisions of the national law and international conventions on children's rights and the requirements for providing all forms of protection for children, and the need to subject probation officers, Child Protection mentors, and other employees to performance oversight measures, capacity-building programs, and disciplinary accountability mechanisms in case they have committed or taken any action that contravenes the provisions of the relevant laws and the obligations to protect and ensure the safety of juveniles and to prohibit subjecting them to any form of violence, torture, and moral and physical humiliation, as such acts may fall under the umbrella of torture crimes, which are imprescriptible and require accountability and compensation. In the same context, our request for the prompt announcement of the results of the mentioned investigation and the legal requirement taken in its regard shall strengthen the confidence of the citizens in the performance of the judicial system, maintain civil peace, and embody the principle of the rule of law.

We, therefore, call upon your Excellency to respond to our request to announce the results of the investigation, to inform public opinion about the legal requirement taken in its regard, and to reply to this memo duly.

With All Due Respect,

Issued on 11/2/2020

MUSAWA