NGOs call on UN to take ‘urgent action’ to protect detainees in Israel, Palestine
The interagency statement, signed by 31 organisations — including Save the Children, Human Rights Watch and Oxfam — calls for UN member states to take steps to “protect people deprived of their liberty” in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, Al Jazeera reports.
“This includes demanding that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is granted immediate and unfettered access to all detainees and hostages, to the full extent required by international humanitarian law,” said the statement, which also called for Hamas to release the remaining captives in Gaza.
The organisations also demanded that Palestinian children arbitrarily arrested and detained by the Israeli military be released “immediately and unconditionally”. The statement cited examples of Palestinian minors in Israeli custody being subject to abuse, including “sexual assaults and violent beatings”.
“No child should ever come into contact with a military court, or any court that lacks comprehensive fair trial rights and basic safeguards. No child should ever be abducted,” the groups said.