Dima al-Wawi, a 12 year-old Palestinian girl, was released from prison Sunday, April 24, after a two and a half month detainment.

Dima, the youngest Palestinian imprisoned by Israel's penitentiary system, had been charged with attempted murder for possessing a knife on February 9, near Hebron in the occupied West Bank. A military court sentenced Dima to a four and a half month prison term, a month and a half of probation, and was fined an amount of 8,000 shekels - approximately $2,000 dollars - but because of the strong campaign waged by her family, along with different human rights and defense agencies and organizations, and after paying a bail, they managed to pressure authorities to release her from prison early,.

The 12-year old explained that at the time of her arrest she was kicked, handcuffed, and shackled at the ankles without any warm clothing on her back, put inside an Israeli military vehicle, and transported from the occupied Palestinian territories to the center of Israel. When interrogated by five men who shouted at her and ridiculed her, Dima confessed, allegedly, that she intended to stab settlers. She was then jailed in the company of other Palestinian, adults. Her mother had only recently received permission to visit her a month and a half later, on March 28. Their reunion between mother and daughter had lasted less than an hour, with no physical contact between the two.

The account seems to be an adaptation from a horror movie, or a narrative from a remote historical period in which the rights devoted to children - a vulnerable group to care for, respect and protect - by the rest of the world, still do not exist. However, this is something that is routine every day in Israeli jails. Since the beginning of the Third Intifada, last September, the number of cases has increased by more than 250%. The data comes from the Israel prison system itself: between September 2015 and March 2016, the number of Palestinian minors imprisoned spiked from 170 to 438, including five children under 14 years of age - and at least seven minors held without charge. Virtually, none of them have any connection to organized crime or armed groups.

***

Israeli military law is applied over the occupied territories, East Jerusalem and the West Bank - exempting the settlers - being the only one of its kind in the world, allowing security forces to detain and imprison children as young as 12 years old. Since 2000 at least 8,000 children have been prosecuted under this law, according to figures from the UN, and the non-governmental organization, Defense for Children International (DCI).

There have been reports of Palestinian children, six to seven years of age, detained for hours on hours without their parents present. In many cases, for behavior as insignificant as throwing rocks, otherwise known as "committing offenses" against the military, which anywhere in the world can be considered a prank in its own right, are supposedly a “crime”. In contrast, Israeli citizens, are subject to civil law, which completely prohibits the jailing of any minor under 14 years of age. This reveals that the Israeli court system does not even remotely operate on facts but on a basis of discrimination, taking origin into account, and fueling prejudice and xenophobia.

Despite going against all international judicial norms requiring respect and dignity in the treatment of minors, experts warn thatimprisoning children only makes the situation worse. A child imprisoned under military confinement, far from their family and without any therapy and/or a support system, will be afflicted from a terrible dehumanization process that leaves physical and psychological traces for life, and of which will contribute nothing to keep him or her from violence.

The severe abuse undergone by Palestinian children has been documented and denounced by a renowned number of organizations that are dedicated to defending the rights of the child. A UNESCO report, based on dozens of interviews with victims, published back in March 2013, is devastating and conclusive: ill-treatment and abuse under the Israeli detention regime are “widespread, systematic and institutional".

***

The trauma begins from the moment of arrest: in the middle of the night, soldiers armed to the teeth break open doors and windows, threatening and shouting at whole family, taking children without even giving them a moment to bid farewell. The only justification heaved at parents and relatives are vague: children are “wanted” or “will be returned later”. In the transfer from arrest to interrogation centers they are not only handcuffed, but blindfolded, for hours, and suffer from a lack of food, water, and/or access to a bathroom.

During interrogation there are no lawyers present that can at a minimum guarantee some rights, that rarely are even communicated to them. Nor is there an independent observer to follow the process and prevent the use of coercive techniques employed in order to achieve, very commonly, forced statements. According to UNESCO, in detainment, the children are “threatened with death, physical violence, confinement and sexual abuse” on them or on any one of the member of their family. Under these conditions, signed confessions are obtained in documents written in Hebrew, and almost never in Arabic.

Next it’s time to face the judges in the courts, who more often than not deny bail and reinstate the indefinite detention process. Two of the three sites where minors are imprisoned are located in Israel - the transfer of prisoners it is prohibited by the Fourth Geneva Convention - making it difficult, generally preventing, the families to be able to visit. The endless flood of abuse continues until maybe one day, with hope, the children are released.

With meticulous documentation of the situation, the UNESCO report concludes with dozens of recommendations, among which are: the non-discrimination of children due to their place of origin, the search for alternatives to incarceration, clear communication to children about their legal status in the presence of their family, the use of non-invasive techniques in arrests and transfers, unrestricted access to lawyers and medical treatment, the prohibition of coercive methods during confinement and interrogations, access to bail, and the stay of children in proximity and accessible areas to the family.

***

The case of the child, Dima al-Wawi, shows that the administration of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu completely relegated the most minimum of demands. Moreover, he has no moral response to justify the physical and psychological torture of children on his account of being in a war zone. Something more like a pretext than an actual argument is the continued expansion of illegal settlements, where Israeli raiding of Palestinian territory is openly backed by the government, indicating the lack of will to at the least mitigate and end the conflict.

The UN needs to reflect on its inability to stop these abuses and seek ways to force Israel to ensure something as basic and fundamental as the rights of the child. Occasionally reports denouncing the situation, such as the UNESCO document, serve as a first step but that is not enough. It seems there is not much to expect from great powers with a track record of shameful silence. Perhaps, the answer lies at the unity of the Non-Aligned States, using a mechanism that could trigger specific adverse effects on Israeli interests, and thus encourage Israel to enforce changes in its criminal policy: diplomatic protests, boycotts, and the cooling of relations, etc.

It is shameful to have to clarify that any individual, organization, or country that can not or will not confront what today afflicts any Palestinian child is at the least a silent accomplice to this grave humanitarian tragedy.

This article was written by Federico Acosta Rainis for American Herald Tribune on May 6, 2016. Federico Acosta Rainis is an anthropologist from Buenos Aires University (UBA). He has published in independent blogs and magazines and contributes with the editorial team of the Último Round magazine.