GENEVA,
September 23, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) - Israeli security measures and
consequent delays at checkpoints are responsible for the death of
Palestinian newborns and mothers in labor, the UN said in a new report
released Thursday, September 22.
Since
2000, there have been more than 70 cases of women in labor who were
delayed at checkpoints, resulting in "unattended and risky
roadside births, causing maternal as well as newborn deaths,"
read the report, prepared for the UN General Assembly by the
Geneva-based UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Reuters reported.
Sixty-one
women have given birth at the checkpoints and 36 of their babies died
as a result, said the report, based on statistics and counts from the
World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Population Fund (UNPF) and the
UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).
Fifteen
pregnant women in 2004 and eight in 2005 were delayed at checkpoints
in the Gaza Strip for 1 to 2-1/2 hours while being transported to a
hospital by a Palestinian Red Crescent Society ambulance.
Out
of the eight blocked this year, one gave birth in the ambulance while
a second, suffering from problems in her six-month pregnancy, aborted
in the ambulance, according to the compiled report.
"Significantly
Impaired"
The
report said Palestinians' access to medical facilities has been
"significantly impaired" due to Israeli security procedures
at checkpoints and its construction of a barrier in the West Bank.
A
growing number of Palestinian women have responded by having caesarean
deliveries or giving birth at home rather than try to travel to a
medical facility.
The
Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group said in 2004 at least 83
Palestinians seeking medical care have died during delays at
checkpoints since 2001.
Palestinian
sufferings are swelling at a dozen Israeli military checkpoints across
the occupied territories.
Beatings,
shootings, harassment, humiliation in front of children and wives and
life-threatening delays are but a few examples of the appalling
conditions at the crossings, according to human rights activists.
Qalandia,
Hawara and Rafah crossings in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip
respectively are among the worst nightmares for the Palestinians.
The
Qalandia crossing, between Ramallah and Al-Quds (occupied east
Jerusalem), is a line of six checkpoints stretching across 30 meters
and the Palestinians have to undergo provocative and humiliating
searches by Israeli soldiers to pass in or out.
In
August of last year, the occupation army closed the Rafah checkpoint
for up to 17 consecutive days.
Some
3,000 men, women and children of all ages were crammed into a parking
lot about half the size of a soccer field with only two doors for
ventilation and straw mats serving as beds.
