Ref: 120/2011

Saturday, 03 December 2011, marks the UN
International Day of Disabled Persons (IDoDP).  In 1992, at the conclusion of the United
Nations Decade of Disabled Persons (1983-1992), the General Assembly proclaimed
3 December as the International Day of Disabled Persons (Resolution 47/3).  This decision came so as to stress the
importance of respecting, advocating and protecting the rights of disabled
persons worldwide.  Such rights are based
on the general principles of human rights, including the International Bill of
Human Rights, which contribute to realizing equality between people without
discrimination based on gender, ethnicity, color or social standing.

However, the suffering of disabled Palestinians
in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) has continued due to human rights
violations perpetrated by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) against the
Palestinian civilian population, and as result of the failure by the
Palestinian National Authority (PNA) to protect the rights of disabled persons
due to the ongoing political division that started in 2007.

Human rights violations perpetrated by IOF have
not left disabled Palestinians unaffected . Since the beginning of this year,
IOF have killed 2 disabled Palestinian children in two separate incidents.  IOF claimed that the two children got close to
the border with Israel, but testimonies collected by PCHR fieldworkers refute
IOF’s allegations. According to PCHR’s investigations, one of the two children
suffered from partial mental disability and speech impediments and he was hit
by ten bullets, mostly to the head, when he was nearly 400 meters from the
border in the northeast of Deir al-Balah.  The second child was killed by shrapnel in the
head and the chest when IOF fired a shell at him.  He was nearly 300 meters far from Nahal Oz
crossing in the east of Gaza City.

According to PCHR’s observation, since the
beginning of the current al-Aqsa Intifada on 28 September 2000, IOF have killed
89 disabled Palestinians, including 15 children and 7 women.  IOF have also wounded at least 105 disabled
Palestinians.

Forty-five physically and psychologically
disabled Palestinians have continued to be held in Israeli jails under cruel
and unhealthy conditions. They are subjected to medical negligence and to inhuman
detention conditions.  Some of them
suffer from muscle paralysis or atrophy, and some of them lost parts of their
bodies as they were wounded before or during the arrest.  In addition, some of them were subjected to
extortion during interrogation by Israeli officers who offered providing them
medical treatment in exchange of information.

Furthermore, disabled Palestinians have been held
at IOF checkpoints disrupting Palestinian population centers, and at Beit
Hanoun “Erez” crossing which is the only crossing Israeli authorities
allow Palestinian patients to use, including disabled persons, to have access
to medical treatment at hospitals in Israel, Jerusalem and the West Bank.
During their detention, the Palestinian disabled persons were subjected to
cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

The policy of complete closure imposed by IOF
on the oPt, especially on the Gaza Strip, has resulted in the deterioration of
the economic and social conditions of the Palestinian population and led to
unprecedented levels of unemployment and poverty; 45.2% and 38% respectively.  As a result, the economic and social
conditions of the disabled persons have aggravated and they have suffered from
severe shortage in rehabilitation services, health care and educational and
occupational services.

The above data indicates the size of grave
violations of the Palestinian disabled persons’ rights to life and to safety
and security of person.  The same data
indicates also that IOF have not attempted to make any minimal efforts to avoid
causing casualties among Palestinian civilians in general and among disabled persons
in particular.  IOF continue to commit
violations against Palestinian disabled persons although Israel ratified the
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which was published on 30
March 2007 and entered into force more than three years ago.

Internally, disabled persons have continued to
suffer from severe deterioration in the level of enjoyment of their rights in
view of the ongoing political division, the existence of two Palestinian
governments in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and non-application -for more
than 11 years- of the provisions of the Rights of Disabled Palestinians’ Law
No. 4 of 1999 which ascribes them health, educational, rehabilitation,
employment, recreational, sports and social rights.  The irregular payment of the aid provided by
the Ministry of Social Affairs to disabled persons has resulted in the
deterioration of their economic and social conditions.  They and their families are suffering poverty
and lack of rehabilitation services, including the provision of necessary
equipment.  Disabled persons are still
waiting for the implementation of the Rights of Disabled Palestinians Law that
includes the issuance of a “Disabled” card entitling the disabled to a variety
of services.

On the occasion of the IDoDP, PCHR:

1- Calls upon the international
community to exert pressure on IOF to put an immediate end to all human rights
violations perpetrated against disabled Palestinians, including killing and
injury, and stopping all forms of targeting rehabilitation and educational
institutions designed for disabled persons;

2- Calls for immediate end to all
forms of grave violations committed against Palestinians prisoners with
disabilities, for the provision of immediate and appropriate medical treatment
to them, and for putting an end to placing them in solitary confinement cells;

3- Calls upon the international
community to ensure Israel’s respect for international human rights
instruments, especially those pertaining to the rights of disabled persons;

4- Calls for an immediate end to the
ongoing internal division that has resulted in catastrophic impacts on the
rights of Palestinians in general and on the rights of disabled persons in
particular;

5- Urges PNA to implement the
provisions of the Rights of Disabled Palestinians’ Law No. 4 of 1999, and calls
upon ministries and governmental organizations to respect the law pertaining to
the disabled persons’ quota of at least 5% in the number of employees in these
institutions;

6- Calls upon the PNA to speed up the
issuance of the “disabled” card stipulated in the Rights of Disabled
Palestinians Law to reduce the suffering of disabled persons and provide decent
living conditions for them and for their families.