RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — One hundred Palestinian minors are being held in Israel’s Megiddo prison, many of whom are facing repeated rights violations by Israel’s prison service, according to a statement released by the Palestinian Prisoners’ Affairs Committee on Wednesday.Some 105 prisoners are currently held in section three of Megiddo prison in northern Israel, only five of whom are adults, Hiba Masalha, a lawyer with the Palestinian Detainees Committee, was quoted as saying in the statement.A spokesman for section three, Raed Riyahi, told Masalha that Israel’s prison service fails to treat minor prisoners in accordance with international law.Riyahi highlighted the case of Majd Saidah, a minor held at Megiddo who was experiencing complications in his appendix. Saidah’s appendix was left untreated until it burst, causing serious inflammation in his abdominal cavity and eventually leading to surgery at Afula hospital.Megiddo prison was the site of a demonstration earlier this year when prisoners refused meals in protest against being held in the “transfer” section for several weeks due to overcrowding.
The prison authorities responded by assaulting the prisoners, transferring strikers to solitary confinement, cutting off the electricity in the section, and confiscating prisoners’ possessions.At this time, Masalha reported the assault and humiliation of 97 minors under the age of 16 in section three of the prison.The prison is one of several detention centers located inside Israel where Palestinian children facing “security” charges are held in direct
violation of international law which prohibits the forcible transfer of protected persons.Nearly 60 percent of Palestinian child detainees are transferred from the occupied Palestinian territory to prisons inside Israel after sentencing, according to the Defense of Children International — Palestine (DCIP).Each year approximately 500 to 700 Palestinian children, some as young as 12, are detained and prosecuted by Israeli military courts, according to DCIP, mostly for the charge of “stone throwing.”
The number of Palestinian children detained in Israeli prison has skyrocketed since a wave of unrest spread in October, despite warnings by rights groups that detentions are often in contravention of international law and oftentimes pushes youth towards violence.
