Please support HR 4391, the Promoting Human Rights by Ending Israeli Military Detention of Palestinian Children Act
I write to ask you to support H.R. 4391, the "Promoting Human Rights by Ending Israeli Military Detention of Palestinian Children Act." H.R. 4391 seeks to promote justice, equality, and human rights by ensuring U.S. tax dollars do not support human rights violations like torture and ill-treatment against Palestinian children during the course of Israeli military detention. The bill requires the Secretary of State to certify annually that no funds given to Israel have been used to support the ill-treatment of Palestinian children detained by Israeli forces from the occupied West Bank in violation of international law. Children under 18 years old now represent nearly half of the 2.7 million Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank. Instead of growing up with a law-based, negotiated settlement founded on universal human rights principles, justice, and respect for human dignity, Palestinian youth have had their futures stifled and suppressed by systemic discrimination, settlement expansion, and a military occupation with no end in sight where impunity is the norm. Israel has the dubious distinction of being the only country in the world that systematically prosecutes between 500 and 700 children each year in military courts that lack fundamental fair trial rights and protections. Children within the Israeli military detention system commonly report physical and verbal abuse from the moment of their arrest, and coercion and threats during interrogations. Under Israeli military law, Palestinian children have no right to a lawyer during interrogation. Ill-treatment of Palestinian children arrested by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank has been widely documented by UNICEF, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, B'Tselem, and Defense for Children International - Palestine. Your support is needed to ensure accountability and change. Please support H.R. 4391.
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