Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Underage detainees facing hardships and abuse

Wednesday March 11, 2009 01:11 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

One of the lawyers for the Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS) stated Tuesday that he managed to visit a number of underage detainees in Hasharon Israeli prison. The detainees complained of ongoing violations against them.

File - Prison Cell
File - Prison Cell

The lawyer met with Suheib Issa al-Habal, age 15, from Ramallah. al-Habal said that he was kidnapped by the Israeli Army on November 26, 2008. He was charged with throwing stones at the military and of attacking an officer.

His parents have not been allowed to visit him since he was kidnapped and detained, and he was not informed of the reason behind barring him from his visitation rights.

He stated that when he was detained, the soldiers cuffed and blindfolded him, and then took him to Ofer detention camp.

He was placed in a small room with 12 other detainees, all barred from showering, and in many cases barred from even using the toilet.

Nearly 45 days later, he was transferred to the underage detainees section at the Ofer prison.

Also, detainee Qais Azizi Musleh, from Kharbatha al-Misbah village, was kidnapped by the Israeli Army on November 26, 2008. He told his lawyer that he is subjected to misstatements by the soldiers.

He stated that the soldiers repeatedly forced him and other detainees to stand naked in the prison yard.

Musleh also said that one soldier struck him on the head, and attacked him with his rifle.

Israel claims that Musleh hurled stones and Molotov Cocktails at the soldiers, in addition to accusing him of writing graffiti on the walls of his village.

The PPS stated that there are several underage detainees who are still being detained, and are still under interrogation, and are not allowed to see their lawyers.