A lawyer for the Commission of Prisoners and Freed Prisoners’ Affairs in Palestine,Hiba Masalha, has revealed terrible accounts of Palestinian minors tortured inside Israeli jails, Palestinian newspaper Al-Resalah reported yesterday.
One of the minors, 15-year-old Baraa Mashhour from the East Jerusalem city of Abu-Dis, was arrested on 19 September. Mashhour says he was arrested in the evening near his house, where there were clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinian youth.
Mashhour claims that seven Israeli soldiers assaulted him, beating him with their hands, feet, steel-capped boots and rifle butts. He says one of the soldiers beat his right hand dozens of times with the butt of his rifle while he was on the ground. Then, he was lifted up and handcuffed with plastic clips that were tied tightly.
Mashhour was made to walk with the troops to a nearby military camp, where he was blindfolded and beaten again. Three hours later, he was taken to the settlement of Ma’ale Adumim. There, he was interrogated before being taken to another settlement for a medical check.
The following day, Mashhour was taken to the hospital and had an X-ray of his right hand that showed multiple fractures from the beatings. Despite the need for a surgical operation, he was initially only supplied with a cast and eventually operated on eight days later.
While he was in hospital, Mashhour was chained to the bed and interrogated for three consecutive hours.
Another young Palestinian boy, 15-year-old Mohamed Salahuddin, from the Hezma neighbourhood in North Jerusalem, was arrested by three Israeli policemen on 4 October in Al-Ram neighbourhood.
The three policemen, says Salahuddin, assaulted him and beat him harshly with their hands, feet and rifle butts. He says he felt faint and coughed until he vomited. Then, he was shoved against a military jeep, where he was handcuffed and insulted several times.
Salahuddin was taken to an interrogation centre and his father was brought to witness the interrogation, which lasted for one hour. After the interrogation, he was left alone for six hours blindfolded and with his hands and legs tied, before being taken to a cell where he remained for nine days. Salahuddin was then taken to Hasharon prison, where he was strip-searched before entering the department dealing with minors.
