Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, May 17, 1990                   TAG: 9005170180
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-13   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: JERUSALEM                                LENGTH: Short

RIGHTS GROUP CITES ISRAELI CHILD CRUELTY

The study, sponsored by the Swedish Save the Children group, claimed Israel's army practiced "calculated cruelty" in some cases.

The findings were rejected by the office of Brig. Gen. Nachman Shai, the army spokesman, and criticized by Israeli human rights activists as one-sided.

Maj. Moshe Fogel, an army spokesman, said pro-PLO activists used children as shields during protests and were responsible for their injuries.

"We are faced with an uprising which turns its children into martyrs and actually encourages minors to participate in violent activities against Israeli soldiers, whether actively or passively," he said.

Thomas Hammarberg, head of the Swedish group and a former secretary-general of Amnesty International, said Israeli leaders failed to investigate abuses adequately and gave soldiers the impression they could do as they liked.

"It could be the soldiers believe plastic and rubber-coated bullets are non-lethal," he said in an interview. "But I think it begins to take the form of the intentional if they let it continue when they know the consequences."

The report said 159 children, aged 16 and under, were killed in the first two years of the uprising against Israeli rule of the occupied lands. The uprising began in December 1987. The report said 106 of the 159 children were shot to death. So far this year, 13 children have been shot to death, the report said. - Associated Press