RAMALLAH, August 7, 2018 (WAFA) – Testimonies by a number of Palestinian children to the Prisoners’ Affairs Commission show they were subjected to systematic beating and torture during and after arrest by Israeli forces, the commission said on Tuesday.
Commission attorney Hiba Ighbarieh documented testimonies from three children held at Majido prison regarding what they went through during and after arrest.
Munir Dari, 16, from Issawiyeh neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem, told the attorney that he was assaulted by several members of the Israeli security forces upon his detention in his neighborhood who beat him up at random all over his body. He was also subjected to beating and cursing at the Russian Compound detention center in West Jerusalem to get him to confess to the charges against him.
Fahd Qeisieh, 17, also from Issawiyeh neighborhood in Jerusalem, was beaten after he was caught during clashes with Israeli forces in his neighborhood. He said a policeman tackled him and dragged him to a police car where another officer stepped with all his force on his back while two others were violently beating him while he was forced to stay on the ground. Beating continued at the Russian Compound interrogation center where he was hit with a stick on his hands, legs, face and back while he was forced to kneel to get him to confess to charges against him.
Firas Masri, 17, was also severely beaten and attacked by several soldiers when he was arrested at an army checkpoint near the northern West Bank city of Qalqilya. He said he was thrown on ground covered with gravel, beaten on his head and back that resulted in injuries and bruises, cursed with vile words, after which he was blindfolded and handcuffed then dragged on the ground for a long distance before he was thrown in an army jeep and taken to a police station in the settlement of Ariel.
Another commission attorney, Hussein al-Sheikh, reported two other children, Mohammad Hadieh, 16, from Bethlehem, and Fawzi Masalmeh, 18, from Azzeh refugee camp also in Bethlehem, gave affidavits of severe beating during arrest.
M.K.
