Audio Interview: Palestinian Children in Israeli Jails
Stefan Christoff, The Electronic Intifada, 20 May 2006. [Hat tip: Robin]

Listen to an interview with Ayed Abu Eqtaish, a child rights activist from Defense for Children International [Palestine Section] and Adam Hanieh of Sumoud, a political prisoner solidarity group based in Toronto. This interview was recorded during the April/May 2006 second annual Free Palestinian Political Prisoners speaking tour organized by Sumoud, which focused on the realities facing Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, specifically child prisoners.

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Defense for Children International, is a Palestinian NGO 'dedicated to promoting and protecting the rights of Palestinian children in the West Bank and Gaza Strip - as articulated in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child'. Today massive numbers of Palestinian children are being arrested and detained by Israeli forces. In the first quarter of 2006 alone, some 350 children were arrested compared to around 700 child arrests in the whole of 2005.

8,000 Palestinian prisoners are currently detained by Israeli authorities, in prisons which major human rights organizations throughout the world. According to a 2006 report from Amnesty International, many Palestinian prisoners 'face medical negligence, routine beatings, position torture and strip searches by Israeli prison authorities'. According to recent figures the Palestinian prison population includes 400 children and 100 women detainees.

For more information visit the website of Defense for Children International & Sumoud, Political Prisoners Solidarity Group. This radio interview was produced by Stefan Christoff for broadcast on CKUT Radio in Montreal.