Palestinian children give testimonies on 'Israeli police torture'

Palestinian children have given testimonies to the Prisoners' Affairs Commission describing the abuse they faced, which included being tortured and severely beaten, at the hands of Israeli soldiers who took them into custody.

The children's testimonies, released on Tuesday, were documented by the commission's attorney Hiba Ighbarieh, in which they describe their ordeals before being sent to notorious high security Megiddo Prison.

Firas Masri, 17, says he was ruthlessly beaten and attacked by a number of soldiers when he was arrested at an Israeli checkpoint near the occupied northern West Bank city of Qalqilya.

In his testimony, he said he was thrown to the floor covered with gravel and beaten on his back and head, giving him bruises and other visible injuries.

He was then dragged on the floor while blindfolded and handcuffed for a long distance before he was thrown in an army vehicle and taken to a police station in the illegal settlement of Ariel.

Fahd Qeisieh, also 17, from the Issawiyeh neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem, says he was attacked by soldiers.

He said he was tackled and dragged to a police car by an officer, while another officer stomped on his back with full force.

Two other police officers began violently beating him while he was forced to stay on the ground. The assault continued at the Russian Compound interrogation centre where he was beaten with a stick on his hands, legs, face and back while he was forced to kneel and not allowed up until he confessed to charges against him.

Another victim from Issawiyeh was 16-year-old Munir Dari. He gave a testimony describing how he was assaulted by a group of Israeli security forces when he was detained in his neighbourhood, who beat him up at random all over his body.

When he was taken to the Russian Compound detention centre in West Jerusalem, he was subjected to both verbal and physical abuse to force him to confess to charges against him.

Palestinian children are routinely subjected to violence by Israeli forces.

According to a report from the Palestinian Prisoner's Club (PPC), 60 percent of Palestinian children detained by Israeli forces are subjected to verbal, physical and psychological torture.

The report, released in February, said minors detained by Israel were forced into a state of sleep depravation, beaten and threatened by interrogators in order to force them into confession.