UN committee highlights Israeli detention, torture of Palestinian children

The UN Special Committee on Israeli Practices in the Occupied Arab Territories held a press conference in Cairo on Thursday to announce the conclusions of its annual field mission. The committee's findings, which will be delivered to the UN General Assembly in November, were based on interviews with Palestinian refugees and officials in Amman, Cairo and the Gaza Strip.
The committee's report described the testimonies it heard as "alarming," especially those pertaining to Israel's detention and mistreatment of Palestinian children.

"The mistreatment of Palestinian children starts the moment they are detained" by Israeli authorities, Palitha Kohana, committee chairman and Sri Lanka’s permanent representative to the UN.

The committee report states that Palestinian children's homes are often surrounded by Israeli soldiers late at night. Soldiers fire sound grenades into their houses, break down their doors and fire live ammunition. Judicial warrants, the report noted, are never produced.

Children detained by Israeli authorities are tightly bound, blindfolded and forced into the backs of military vehicles. Their parents are not allowed to accompany them. They are, as a matter of course, insulted, intimidated and at times physically abused by Israeli authorities.

According to the committee, witnesses said the detention and transfer of children can last for hours, while they are denied any legal representation. more

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