Monday, October 2, 2024

The Israeli occupation authorities persist in devising methods to oppress and harass the Palestinian people, disregarding all international conventions and agreements. One such method is house arrest, which has become a punitive tool targeting Palestinians, especially residents of Jerusalem, with children under the age of 14 being among the most affected. Additionally, house arrest is imposed on political and field leaders, workers at Al-Aqsa Mosque, and those guarding and frequenting it.

House arrest involves court-imposed orders requiring an individual to remain confined for specific periods in their home or in the home of a relative or friend. This confinement may be extended repeatedly, with violations resulting in additional penalties. For Palestinians, particularly in Jerusalem, house arrest effectively transforms homes into prisons and is often considered more severe than actual imprisonment. It restricts not only the detainee but also their guarantors, creating constant tension within households, especially when the individual under house arrest is a child. The psychological and social effects on children are particularly devastating.

There are two main types of house arrest:

1. Home confinement: The individual, whether a child, woman, or man, is required to stay at home and cannot leave for the entire period of detention.
2. Forced relocation: The individual is confined to the home of a relative or friend away from their family and residential area. This arrangement is particularly distressing as it disrupts family life and increases anxiety.

A newer form of house arrest is "nightly house arrest", which requires individuals to remain confined every night from 8:00 PM to 6:00 AM. This can last for months and is enforced under orders from the Israeli military commander or the so-called Home Front Commander. The legal basis for such orders lies in British Mandate emergency regulations, granting broad powers to further restrict Palestinian citizens.

House arrest is often used for children under 14 years old because Israeli law prohibits their imprisonment. This measure also seeks to shield the occupation from international criticism and scrutiny by human rights organizations. According to statistics from the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club and the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, Israeli authorities issued approximately 2,200 house arrest orders between January 2018 and March 2022, affecting minors, including 114 children under the age of 12. In comparison, only 228 house arrest orders were issued between 2015 and 2017. Recent years have seen a reduction in the use of open-ended house arrest due to new Israeli laws permitting the imprisonment of minors under 14 and harsher penalties for children accused of stone-throwing. These legal changes have expanded the powers of police and courts to detain children and prolong their imprisonment.

For adults, house arrest is often used to prevent them from carrying out their national or professional activities. Prominent Palestinian leaders in Jerusalem have been frequent targets of this measure. For instance, between late 2018 and early 2021, the Governor of Jerusalem (Adnan Ghaith) and dozens of activists from the Fatah movement in Jerusalem were subjected to arrests followed by house arrest.

House arrest is an arbitrary and unethical practice that violates the principles of international humanitarian law and global conventions, particularly the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child and its optional protocols, as well as the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their additional protocols of 1977.

Source: Palestinian National Information Center - WAFA