(MEMO) – Rashid Al-Rashq, a 14 year-old Palestinian boy, has revealed that Israeli forces tortured and mistreated him, including stripping him of his clothes, after he was imprisoned for two months based on the accusation that he allegedly threw stones.
Al-Rashq, who is from the Old City in Jerusalem, told Quds News Agency that the Israeli police arrested him in the Old City and took him to the Qishleh police headquarters near the Jaffa Gate to investigate him without the presence of his father.
The young boy described how Israeli forces beat him and the investigators stripped him of his clothes during the investigation, forcing him to sit on a small chair.
Al-Rashq recounted how during the first seven days he was questioned 24 hours a day, while his hands were tied behind his back.
The police suspected him of throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at Israeli settlers and police units in occupied Jerusalem, and when he insisted that he did not throw any stones, the investigators would beat him, slapping him and spitting in his face.
Al-Rashq said that he appeared before the judge nearly ten times, and every time there were surprise witnesses, including settlers and members of the Israeli intelligence services who testified against him.
Al-Rashq is a ninth grader who studies at the Islamic Orphanage in the old town.
He explained that the investigators also used torture against other child detainees, adding that the investigators threatened him not to mention his torture or mistreatment inside the prison or else he would be beaten again. They also asked him to sign papers confirming that he was not beaten; however, he refused to sign them.
The young boy spoke about the Hasharon prison where he was detained, describing how the prisoners there are neglected and kept in moist rooms that lack ventilation or proper health conditions.
The judge released Al-Rashq on bail, but placed him under house arrest until next month, during which time he is not allowed to leave the house to attend school.
Rashid’s father told Quds News Agency that during the early days of his detention, the investigators refused to allow him to be present during his son’s investigation.
The father also said that:
“Nearly an hour and a half after Rashid was arrested, a police force raided the house looking for clues but did not find anything; and when they finished the police officer asked to have some light clothes for Rashid,” adding that “sometimes when Rashid appeared before the Israeli court the family was not even informed of the secret sessions where his son would appear alone with the judge and witnesses.”
He continued:
“Every time I attended the trial, I could see the torture marks on my son’s and other children’s faces, but the last time the marks were very bad. He was very sick with fever and the police gave him some kind of medication, which we knew nothing about.”
The father appealed to international human rights organisations and legal institutions to intervene to save the children of Jerusalem, who suffer under occupation and continued detention, depriving them of their childhood and education.
Source: Middle East Moniter
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