NGO Monitor Supplemental Submission to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child
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[Excerpts]
NGO Monitor, a project of the Institute for NGO Research,1 brings this supplemental submission in advance of the review of “State of Palestine” and its compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child at the Committee’s 83rd Session. We hope that this submission will aid the Committee in its preparation of its final report to the Palestinian Authority.
This submission provides supplemental information on issues related to the rampant campaign of incitement and recruitment and use of children within the Palestinian Authority. This campaign of incitement is endemic throughout Palestinian society and has damaged many generations of Palestinian children. This campaign undergirds the on-going armed conflict with Israel and is responsible for countless deaths of both Palestinians and Israelis. Any review of the PA’s compliance with the CRC must address this issue in depth. Failure to do so would be a lack of commitment in evaluating the PA’s adherence to and compliance with the CRC. Moreover, given that more than 95% of the Palestinian population falls under the control of the Palestinian Authority, it is important that the PA not be given a pass on compliance with its obligations under the CRC because of a claim of “occupation.” Excuses for noncompliance by the PA should not be indulged. If the PA considers itself an entity that is capable of joining an international human rights treaty, then it must accept the responsibilities and obligations that come with being a member.
In its List of Issues, the CRC called for additional information regarding measures taken to (13.c) “combat the use and exploitation of children for political purposes” and (17.d) “The number of children involved in the armed conflict by both State and non-State actors.”
Our supplemental submission highlights additional examples relating to the exploitation of Palestinian children by the Palestinian Authority and Palestinian armed groups
Footnotes
- Members of the Institute’s Advisory Board include Elliott Abrams, Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations; former Canadian Ambassador to Israel, Amb. Vivian Bercovici; Amb. John Bolton, US National Security Advisor and former US Permanent Representative to the UN; Hon. Michael Danby, MP, senior member of the Australian Labor Party; Harvard Professor Prof. Alan Dershowitz; Canadian Senator, Hon. Linda Frum; best-selling author and commentator and British journalist and international affairs commentator, Tom Gross; Colonel Richard Kemp, former commander of British forces in Iraq and Afghanistan; Douglas Murray, Director of the Centre for Social Cohesion, best-selling author and commentator; former Member of Italian Parliament, Hon. Fiamma Nirenstein, UCLA Professor and President of the Daniel Pearl Foundation, Prof. Judea Pearl; US Jurist and former Legal Advisor to the State Department Judge Abraham Sofaer; Dr. Einat Wilf, former member of Knesset with the Israel Labor Party and advisor to Shimon Peres; Harvard Professor Prof. Ruth Wisse; R. James Woolsey, former US Director of Central Intelligence; and Israeli Supreme Court Justice, Justice Elyakim Rubinstein.
