Two Palestinian children were detained for six and a half hours for allegedly throwing stones at settlers in the village of al-Tur in occupied East Jerusalem,
Muhammad Samih Ulayan, 10, and Mustafa Abu al-Hawa, 12, were arrested by Israeli forces while walking in al-Tur, before being transported to a nearby illegal Israeli settlement, then to the al-Tur police station and finally to the Salah al-Din police station. Here they were interrogated for six and a half hours, as reported by the Wadi Hilweh Information Center.
The center added that the Israeli police interrogated the children without a guardian present. It added that Abu al-Hawa was put under house arrest for five days and fined 500 shekels following his release.
Israel interrogates 2 children for over 6 hours over allegations of stone throwing: https://t.co/av6ZGO5osA pic.twitter.com/sKEXd4HqD7
— Ma'an News Agency (@MaanNewsAgency) May 21, 2016
In July, legislation was passed in the Israeli Knesset allowing sentencing for up to 20 years for someone convicted of throwing stones at vehicles, with the possibility of receiving a 20-year sentence if intent can be proven. However, the law allows the Israeli state to imprison someone for up to 10 years without proof of intent.
In November, Israel established legislation sentencing Palestinians to a minimum of three years in prison for the act of throwing a stone at an Israeli.
Hundreds of alleged stone-throwers are detained every year by Israel police very year, and Israeli rights group B’Tselem reported that from 2005 to 2010, “93 percent of the minors convicted of stone throwing were given a prison sentence, its length ranging from a few days to 20 months.”
(MA’AN, PC)
