RAMALLAH,
May 19, 2015 (WAFA) – Palestinian minor prisoners arrested by Israel in recent
months have indicated a surge of flagrant violations against them during and
after detention by the Israeli authorities, including physical assault, and strip
searches.
Heba
Masalha, an attorney with the Detainees and ex-Detainees Affairs Committee, was
recently allowed to visit minor prisoners in Israeli jails. She reported the
affidavit of four minor prisoners which indicated a relentless disregard to
basic humanitarian rights of prisoners.
Jamal
Za’tari, 15, from the Jerusalem neighborhood of al-Tour told Masalha he was
severely beaten by Israeli police officers during his arrest two months ago.
Za’tari was eye-folded, handcuffed, strip-searched, verbally insulted, and
repeatedly hit on his head during his detention and during investigation, he
told the committee’s attorney.
Meanwhile,
Riyad Abu-Ta’a, 17, from the Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah said he
was acutely beaten in the face and back by Israeli police during his arrest
four months ago. Like Zatari, Abu-Ta’a was eye-folded, handcuffed,
strip-searched and verbally insulted during both detention and investigation.
As
for 17-year-old Iyad Adawi from Nablus, he told Masalha he was acutely beaten
up by Israeli soldiers who arrested him at a checkpoint near Nablus a few
months ago. Adawi said one of the soldiers deliberately attempted to make cuts
and wounds in his hand, while using a knife either to tie or untie his
handcuffs during his arrest and transfer for investigation.
Meanwhile,
Musab Hamdan, 17, from Hebron, was also severely beaten, especially in the face,
by Israeli soldiers who arrested him about a month ago.
On
January 19, an attorney with the committee reported that Palestinian minor
prisoners incarcerated in Israeli jails are routinely subjected to physical
torture during their arrest and interrogation as well as in detention.
“By
the end of January 2014, it was reported that a total of 183 Palestinian
children were prosecuted and detained in the Israeli court system, a rise of
18.8% over the month. The figure includes twenty children between the ages of
14 and 15,” reported the Middle East Monitor in a story.
“Around 500 -
700 Palestinian children, some as young as 12, are arrested, detained and
prosecuted in the Israeli military detention system each year. The majority of
Palestinian child detainees are charged with throwing stones. No Israeli
children come into contact with the military court system,” said Defense for
Children International (DCI).
Israel is the
only state to automatically and systematically prosecute children in military
courts that lack basic standards of due process.
More
than 200 minor prisoners are currently incarcerated in Israeli jails.
M.N/T.R
