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RAMALLAH, January 16, 2012 (WAFA) - The Euromid Observer for Human Rights Sunday released in a statement documentation of Israeli forces’ violations of human rights committed against Palestinian minors during interrogation and detention.

Euromid Observer documented testimonies of torture practiced against minors during interrogation in the West Bank and Jerusalem, which included psychological pressure, scolding, sleep deprivation, as well as delay or denial of legal counsel.

The Israeli authorities’ interrogation of Palestinian minors is often done within the framework of arbitrary arrest, as interrogations mainly focus on the minors’ participation in non-violent demonstrations, said Euromid statement.

It added that the Israeli arbitrary arrests, including arrests under the pretext of participating in non-violent protests, and the inhumane and brutal practices violate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The Euromid Observer stressed that it will address international organizations on the illegal Israeli interrogations practices against Palestinian minors, noting that Israeli courts sentenced 834 out of 835 minors to jail between 2005 and 2010.

Euromid published the documentation following the broadcast of a video showing Israeli police interrogation of 14-year-old Islam Dar Ayyoub, from the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah, through the use of threatening and sexual gestures to intimidate the minor, who burst into tears halfway through the interrogation and had almost collapsed.

The interrogator wanted to use Dar Ayyoub’s testimony to convict a civil protester from the same village through charging him of inciting to violence.

R.Q./M.S.