In a letter to the Israeli premier, a group of Israeli experts has criticized the police for detaining and physically abusing Palestinian minors.
The caution-laden letter, addressed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, cited instances of "flagrant violations" of the law by the forces in their treating the minors, AFP reported on Thursday.
The children were faced with "threats and humiliation at the hand of the investigators … which sometimes involved substantial physical violence," they wrote.
"Over the last few months, there has been a growing number of testimonies of minors and their families which point to flagrant violations of the rights of detained minors," the letter said.
It highlighted "the use of violence during the investigation of children and young people who are suspected of throwing stones in Silwan" — a crowded Arab neighborhood.
The neighborhood is situated in East al-Quds (Jerusalem), which Israel occupied in 1967 and later annexed in a move not recognized by the international community.
The police have been cracking down on the protesters in the neighborhood, who object to Tel Aviv’s plans to raze 22 Arab-residing homes there to build a so-called archeological park.
Tel Aviv has placed suspected rock-throwing youngsters from the neighborhood under house arrest and dragged their families through the courts.
The children, meanwhile, face brutality at the hand of radical Jewish settlers.
A study by NGO Defense for Children International-Palestine recently showed that the settlers have intensified acts of violence against Palestinian children over the past two years.
The body documented 38 cases of aggression, in 13 of which the settlers opened fire on the victims, killing three children and injuring another 10.
Last month, the leader of Silwan’s Jewish settlers ran over two Palestinian children, aged 10 and 12, and fled the scene. The incident, which broke the younger victim’s leg, prompted international condemnation.
Following the attack, the victims initially resisted being hustled into a car, which apparently meant to take them to hospital.
Palestinian youngsters fear getting into strangers’ vehicles as they have seen their friends taken away by Israeli troops on a regular basis.
(Press TV)
