Defense for Children International ceases operations in Palestine
Defense for Children International - Palestine (DCIP) has ceased its operations due to challenges resulting from Israel’s targeted criminalisation of Palestinian human rights organisations.
As an independent, local Palestinian child rights organisation dedicated to defending and promoting the rights of children, over the years, DCIP has investigated, documented, and exposed grave human rights violations against children and advocated at the international and national levels to advance access to justice and protection for children.
Citing “challenges resulting from Israel’s targeted criminalisation of Palestinian human rights organisations after 35 years of advocating for the rights of Palestinian children, the organisation announced on 7 April that it would cease its operations. The closure follows years of delegitimisation and disinformation campaigns, as well as funding suspensions and investigations by the United Nations and several European governments, which ultimately found no evidence to substantiate the allegations made against it.
The context
As reported by Human Rights Watch, in 2021, the Israeli military banned DCIP and five other Palestinian human rights groups, calling them “terrorist organisations.” However, international human rights groups, the United Nations, and several governments later found these accusations were not true. It was difficult to challenge the claims because they were based on secret evidence. Some European countries stopped funding the group while they looked into the accusations. After more than a year, they concluded that the claims had no basis.
What's next?
While airstrikes, shelling, and gunfire continue across the Gaza Strip, resulting in civilian casualties and worsening an already dire humanitarian crisis, other Palestinian human rights organisations are still working in the region. But now it is up to all of us civil society organisations to carry forward the work of organisations like Defense for Children International - Palestine, and continue fighting for the present and future of children in Palestine.
Photo from DCIP's website.
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