Hurryyat: 13 Minors in Ofer Under 16

During her visit to Ofer Prison, Ibtisam Al-Anati, Attorney of the Center for Defense of Liberties and Civil Rights (Hurryyat), visited several prisoners amongst them prisoner Abdul Fattah Doleh, representative of detained minors in Ofer, who confirmed an increase in the number of detained children. An overcrowding of the sections resulted in the transfer of 13 minors to the Megiddo minor section. The number of minor detainees in Ofer registered 105 children while the number of minors detained in general reached 200 children.

Doleh added that 23 children were detained this month mainly coming from Husan village and Al-Arroub refugee camp where they were all detained from their homes. The children were arrested and convicted based on photographs taken of them during clashes and presented to them during interrogation. 13 prisoners in the section do not exceed 15 of age and Abdul Rahman Jawabreh marks the youngest prisoner being detained on 14/04/2015 while born on 04/07/2000.

As he mentioned, the two children from Al-Bireh Saji Ahmad Abed and Moath Mousa Abed were arrested on 25/03/2015 and held 21 days for interrogation in the Jerusalem Detention Center (Russion Compound). Fadi Taqatqa aged 16 from Beit Fajjar, considered the dean of minor prisoners, was detained on 08/02/2013 and sentenced to 28 months marking the longest detention period among the minors. Doleh also mentioned the minhaleh, or else the deducing of days or weeks from the supposed sentence, is being practiced as a measure against the increase of prisoners in numbers.

Doleh also urged the human rights organizations and the Palestinian Detainees Committee to form a committee for legal affairs concerned with investigating the cases of minor detainees prior to their investigation by lawyers.

On its part, Hurryyat condemned the continuous violations of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) committed by the occupation concerning the conditions of the arrest and release of minor detainees, but primarily condemned the policy of daily child arrests for insignificant or no reasons. Hurryat condemned their harassment in front of their families during arrest, their chaining in detention centers, frightening them with police dogs and putting their lives in danger. Hurryyat also condemned the unjust verdicts and overpriced fines, the inappropriate detention conditions, the humiliating naked body checks, the night raids, and the medical negligence committed unlawfully against them.

Hurryyat urged the international community, the international human rights organizations, particularly the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), and the Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council to undertake their legal and moral obligations towards the blatant violations against minor detainees that transgress the basic rights of the CRC, while seriously working for eliminating them.