RAMALLAH, April 7, 2011 (WAFA) - A report published Thursday by the Ministry of Prisoners Affairs said Israeli soldiers and interrogators abuse and systematically beat Palestinian children during arrest and in detention.

The report, based on testimonies presented by children, said soldiers heavily beat them from the time they are arrested until they reach the detention center.

Soldiers also beat the children during interrogation with rifles and clubs to force them to sign confessions written in Hebrew.

In one case, Ala Samara, 15, from the village of Bilin, said that soldiers hit him on the head to force him to sign a confession in Hebrew. He said he was arrested at the village during the weekly Friday protest and was beaten and kicked all over his body and was also hit with rifle butts. He was then taken to a settlement where he was also beaten.

Most of the children were subjected to shabh (tying a person’s hands and forcing them to be in the same position for long hours) in the cold, especially during night hours, said the ministry report.

The ministry said Israeli measures against children are a violation of international laws and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

M.N./M.A.