Israel violates the rights of Palestinian children in its prisons

August 22, 2006

Tulkarem-Ma'an-Majd Abdus Salam Al Jundub, 17, is a Palestinian child who has served 6 months in an Israeli jail. He said on his release that the conditions faced by Palestinian children in Israeli jails is very difficult as the prison administration treats children in the same way that they treat adults.

Talking during the weekly protest of prisoners' families in Tulkarem, he said that children were given food of a very poor quality to eat. He said that the food was cooked by prisoners who are criminals.

He added that the administrators at the prison punished prisoners without a reason and this punishement could be deprivation of family visits, violence and beatings, bringing police dogs into prisoners' rooms and forcing them to undress.

Moreover, prisoners were kept in overcrowded rooms and those who need medical care are denied treatment. He gave the example of Ahmad Abu Adel, 16, from the village of Kufur Ni'mah, who is suffering from a serious liver disease and who does not have access to treatment.