It is time that our Congressional Representative Antonio Delgado became a cosponsor of H.R. 2407. This bill would promote justice, equality and human rights for children globally by prohibiting any U.S. foreign aid dollars from contributing to "the military detention, interrogation, abuse, or ill-treatment of children in violation of international humanitarian law."
The bill sets a clear statement of policy declaring, “It is the policy of the United States to promote human rights for Palestinian children living under Israeli military occupation and to declare Israel's system of military detention of Palestinian children as a practice that results in widespread and systematic human rights abuses amounting to gross violations of human rights inconsistent with international humanitarian law and the laws of the United States.”
According to Israeli newspaper Haaretz: "They’re seized in the dead of night, blindfolded and cuffed, abused and manipulated to confess to crimes they didn't commit. Every year Israel arrests almost 1,000 Palestinian youngsters, some of them not yet 13."
Of course, children under 18 are abused in many places around the world, including in our own criminal justice system as well as in our immigration detention centers. Hopefully, this bill will bring to light the need to protect all children from inhumane treatment during arrest and incarceration.
If you live in District 19, please sign this open letter to Rep. Delgado:
Fred Nagel
8 Clay Ct.
Rhinebeck, NY 12572
845 876-7906
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