Children rights group petitions UN for release of Palestinian boy, detained by Israel
Children rights group petitions UN for release of Palestinian boy, detained by Israel
The 17-year-old, who said he and his lawyer were not allowed to see 'secret' evidence against him, is due to be released on 18 October - if his detention is not renewed.
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The Israeli occupation authorities have detained 39 children since October 2015, according to the Defence for Children International [Getty]
A children's rights group has submitted an urgent petition to the United Nations for the release of a Palestinian child arbitrarily detained by Israeli forces, The New Arab's Arabic-language sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported on Tuesday.
Defence for Children International Palestine has told the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention that 17-year old Palestinian Muhammad Ghassan Mansour should be immediately released.
Mansour was detained on 9 April and held at the Israeli Hawara detention centre, without charge.
An Israeli military court approved a six-month administrative detention order against him on 25 April.
"The Israeli government arbitrarily deprives the child, Mansour, of his freedom through the use of administrative detention, which amounts to arbitrary detention," the organisation said.
The group added that they were concerned about Mansour's physical and mental health in prison.
Mansour appealed the administrative detention, which the court rejected on 9 August, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported.
The children's rights group said that Mansour and his lawyer were not allowed to see any evidence against him as it was based on "secret information".
It said that the child's detention violates international law.
Mansour is now being held at Megiddo prison under a detention order which will expire on 18 October unless it is renewed.
Mansour said Israeli forces beat him during his arrest. They did not confirm his identity, give a reason for his detention, or allow him to say goodbye to his family, according to the rights group.
The group has also documented the administrative detentions of 39 children by the Israeli occupation authorities since October 2015. Four children have been subjected to administrative detention since the beginning of 2021.
Save The Children said that more than four in five Palestinian children detained by Israel suffer physical abuse and nearly 90 percent were subject to verbal abuse.
Almost half were denied access to a lawyer.
The Palestinian Prisoner Society said in April that 230 Palestinian children had been detained by Israel in the first three months of 2021.
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