A/HRC/16/24 (paras. 630-652). Nor has the Committee uncovered updated information concerning the status of the criminal investigations into the death of Muhammed Hajji and the shooting of Shahd Hajji and Ola Masood Arafat (A/HRC/12/48, paras. 745-754); and the shooting of Ibrahim Juha (ibid., paras 755-763). Accordingly, the Committee remains unable to determine whether any investigation has been carried out in relation to those incidents. 30. The Committee also conducted an assessment of specific inquiries into the use of human shields that were not explicitly mentioned in the FFM report. The Committee recalls that the Government of Israel reported that the MAG had directly referred for criminal investigation all allegations that civilians were used as human shields or compelled to take part in military operations.17 In his April 2010 report on children and armed conflict, the Secretary-General noted that the MAG was investigating reports of seven Palestinian children used by Israeli soldiers as human shields in three separate incidents during the Gaza conflict (A/64/742-S/2010/181, para. 101). The outcome of the investigations into two of these incidents is unknown. The other investigation was opened in June 2009 on the instructions of the MAG following a complaint by Defence for Children International.18 According to media reports, two soldiers forced a boy to search bags suspected of being booby trapped and were convicted of offenses including inappropriate behavior and overstepping authority.19 Both soldiers were demoted and received suspended sentences of three months each.20 31. It should be noted that while some media reports described the conviction as a credit to the IDF, a former IDF deputy chief of staff reportedly said that the soldiers’ criminal records should be cleared and that such events should be probed inside the units and not in interrogation rooms.21 The boy’s mother apparently indicated her disappointment over the decision to suspend the prison terms and expressed concern at the message that such a lenient sentence would send to IDF soldiers.22 Reportedly, in the ruling, the judges condemned the actions of the soldiers, but they also gave weight to issues such as the contribution of the soldiers to Israel’s security and their personal circumstances, and concluded that the soldiers “did not seek to degrade or humiliate the boy”.23 32. The Committee does not have sufficient information to comment definitively on this judgment, although it is hard to square the apparent finding that the soldiers “did not seek to degrade or humiliate the boy” with evidence that they intended to put him directly in harm’s way at grave risk to his life. The Committee is mindful of other judicial decisions, such as the case of the soldier who was sentenced to a prison term of seven and a half months for stealing a credit card during the operation in Gaza, where a harsher penalty was imposed for acts that did not entail danger to the life or physical integrity of a civilian, much less to a 9-year-old child. 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 8 Israel, “Gaza Operation investigations: second update”, July 2010, para. 37. IDF, “IDF military prosecution indicts two IDF soldiers for misconduct during Operation Cast Lead”, press release, posted on the Official Blog of the IDF, 11 March 2010. Anshel Pfeffer, “Soldiers convicted of using boy, 11, as human shield during Cast Lead”, Haaretz, 4 October 2010. Available from www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/soldiers-convicted-of-usingboy-11-as-human-shield-during-cast-lead-1.317008. Anshel Pfeffer, “IDF soldiers demoted after convicted of Gaza war misconduct”, Haaretz, 21 November 2010. Available from www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/idf-soldiers-demotedafter-convicted-of-gaza-war-misconduct-1.325850. Hanan Greenberg, “No jail time for troops who endangered Palestinian boy”. Available fromhttp://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3987445,00.html, 21 November 2010. Ibid. IDF, “101 with the Deputy Military Advocate” (note 1 above).