Yesterday, 16 February, a delegation from Defence for Children International/Palestine Section (DCI/PS) met with the United Nations U.N Human Rights Inquiry Commission currently visiting the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The Commission was established following last year's visit of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, and charged with investigating Israeli practices during the Al Aqsa Intifada, on the basis of the UN High Commission for Human Rights decision S-5/1 on 19 October, 2000 . The Israeli government has refused to meet with, or discuss matters with the Commission.

DCI/PS representatives presented a detailed report on Israeli human rights violations during the Intifada, focusing in particular on violations of Palestinian children's rights. DCI is currently preparing a detailed Violations Report on Israeli practices during the year 2000 using a rights-based approach centered around the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), to which Israel is a States Party.

Issues discussed during the meeting included the following:

· Israel 's violation of the right to life: According to DCI/PS fieldwork, 100 Palestinian children have been killed since the Intifada began on 29 September. Since the start of the year 2001, six children have been killed. DCI/PS explained that Israel has been conducting a policy of shoot-to-kill or seriously injury against the Palestinian population, evidenced through the fact that 72% of child deaths have resulted from shots fired to the upper part of the body (head and chest). Over 2100 children have been injured during the Intifada, while 236 were injured in the year 2000 prior to the Intifada. Examining the statistics of injuries through violation type, a sharp rise in injuries to the upper body has been noted by DCI/PS field workers in comparison with injuries prior to the Intifada (19% prior to Intifada compared to 31.7% during the Intifada). In addition, several deaths have occurred as a result of the closure imposed on Palestinian areas and at the hands of Israeli settlers.

· The effects of the Israeli closure on Palestinian life: The closure imposed on the West Bank and Gaza Strip is a violation of international law as it constitutes a form of collective punishment. The DCI/PS delegation gave a number of examples of how the closure has effected Palestinian children, including the example of 10 year old girl-child Alaa Osaama Hamdan. Alaa died as a result of a severe lung infection on 13 October after her family was prevented by the Israeli imposed closure from taking her to the hospital in Nablus.

· The situation of Palestinian child prisoners in Israeli jails: DCI/PS' lawyer reported on the extreme difficulties faced in providing legal support to children detained by the Israeli military authorities during the Intifada. Up until the end of December, the Israeli authorities had closed the courts dealing with these cases and were arbitrarily extending detentions without the presence of legal defence. Large numbers of children have been arrested including 40 from the village of Hossan near Hebron. Many children are being subject to torture and several have required medical treatment as a result of this torture, including 15-year old Mohammed Zaour, currently in Telmond Prison, who was stripped naked and had boiling water followed by freezing water repeatedly poured over his head. Once the courts reopened, children have been given sentences 3-4 times the length of those given prior to the Intifada. In addition, children have been denied visits by lawyers and family members and have been incarcerated with criminal prisoners in many situations.

DCI/PS also discussed the Israeli propaganda regarding the events of the Intifada, in particular the claim that Palestinians were indoctrinating children in a culture of violence. DCI pointed out that the violence stemming from the Israeli occupation surrounded children everywhere during their daily lives. The shelling of houses and schools, the continuing violence of Israeli soldiers and settlers, as well as the large number of people killed by Israeli occupation forces creates an environment that is extremely detrimental to children's well-being. DCI has encountered widespread evidence of damaging pyscho-social effects on children in its work during the Intifada. The Israeli claim that Palestinians are to blame is akin to blaming the victim and is a racist attitude stemming from an occupier's mentality.

DCI/PS welcomes the investigation of the Commission and hopes that its findings will contribute to ending the continuing violence of the Israeli occupation and strengthen international efforts to protect the child victims of this occupation.