Sunday, March 16, 2014

Thousands remain in Israeli custody, report says


A guard tower at the maximum-security Israeli prison of Ayalon in Ramle (file photo)



Israeli police have reportedly put thousands of people in prison during so-called legal proceedings over the past two years.



Israeli Police Chief Yohanan Danino has told the Knesset (Israeli parliament) that 45,215 people were held in custody until the end of the proceedings between 2012 and 2013. The figure was 9,000 more compared with previous two years.


At least 2,000 people, including 60 children, are currently held in Israeli prisons, compared to 238 in the whole year 2000.


Reports say that in many cases the people being detained in Israeli prisons are not considered dangerous criminals.


Many of them are found to be mentally impaired or cannot afford to get released on bail.


In the past two years, there has been a significant rise in the number of accused people held in custody during legal proceedings.


Among the inmates, many Palestinian prisoners say they have been subject to torture in Israeli jails.


The Israeli regime is reportedly holding captive over 4,800 Palestinians including children and women.


In January, the Public Committee Against Torture accused the Tel Aviv regime of torturing the Palestinian children, saying the minors are routinely held in outdoor cages for hours after arrest.


The organization said the children have to endure freezing temperatures outside transit facilities.


This kind of torture is a long-running practice meant to terrify the detained children, the committee said.


Head of the Census Department at the Palestinian Ministry of Detainees, Abdul-Nasser Ferwana, said last month that Israeli soldiers have kidnapped and detained more than 10,000 Palestinian children since the beginning of the al-Aqsa Intifada in September 2000.


He added that the Israeli regime has imprisoned more than 11,000 Palestinians, including about 2,500 children, over the past three years.


DB/HSN



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