Palestinian Children Endure Systematic Abuse in Israeli Jails

Ramallah, MINA – Israeli courts issued in September harsh sentences against 27 Palestinian children being held in Ofer prison, palinf.com reported, citing rights sources.

A rights group working with prisoners and ex-prisoners said that 35 Palestinian minors were rounded up and detained in Ofer prison over the past month, 18 of them were detained from their family houses, 11 from their cities’ roads, and four others at military checkpoints. Another minor was arrested after being summoned for investigation, while another was arrested after entering Israel without permit.

27 child prisoners were sentenced, during the same reported period, for different periods of time ranging between one and 26 months, the sources underlined.

Two of them were shot and injured during their arrest, while 20 received severe beating in Israeli detention and investigation centers.

In addition to imprisonment, the Israeli courts imposed heavy fines on Palestinian children totaling 78,000 Israeli shekels in September alone.

The committee warned that Palestinian minors caught up in Israel’s military judicial system are described as enduring systematic abuse including physical and verbal assault, denying parental visitations, handing down harsh prison sentences and pressuring guilty confessions during violent, closed-door interrogation sessions.(R/R04/RS5)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)