Friday, September 25, 2009

More Palestinian Children Getting Jailed


By Mel Frykberg

"BI'ILIN, West Bank, Sep 24 (IPS) - Eight children between the ages of 10 and 17 were arrested and detained by Israeli soldiers during military raids Monday night and Tuesday morning in the northern West Bank cities Nablus and Qalqilia.

Defence for Children International (DCI) Palestine has released a statement that the number of children detained in Israeli jails and temporary Israeli army detention centres this year has risen by 17.5 percent compared with 2008.

"The average number of Palestinian children held in Israeli detention in 2009 remains high, at 375 per month compared with an average of 319 in 2008," says DCI.......

Israeli human rights organisation B'Tselem describes the tiny cells where Palestinian children are often held in solitary confinement.

These include the 'lock-up', a dark cell of 1.5 by 1.5 metres. The 'closet' is a narrow cell the height of a person that one can stand in but not sit or move. The 'grave' is a box closed by a door from the top and measuring approximately one metre by 60 cm with a depth of about 80 cm.

DCI has documented at least seven cases during Israel's war on Gaza at the beginning of the year where Gazan children were used as human shields by Israeli soldiers......"

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