Amnesty International yesterday accused Israeli police of violating judicial procedures by arresting Palestinian children in the middle of the night and reportedly subjecting them to high-pressure interrogations.
The London-based rights group, which visited Jerusalem and northern Israel in late October, said in a news release there was a "culture of impunity" around Israeli police in their treatment of suspects in the past six weeks of violence.
"Palestinians, including children, were frequently arrested from their homes in the middle of the night in a highly intimidatory fashion," Amnesty quoted its researcher and delegation member, Ms Joanna Oyediran, as saying. A news release issued by the group made no specific reference to the situation in Palestinian-ruled territories policed by the Palestinian Authority.
More than 190 people, mainly Palestinians, have been killed in clashes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip which have left Middle East peacemaking in shreds. In the first days of the violence, fighting also spilled over into Arab urban areas in Israel proper.
Palestinian children have been prominent in the violence, playing truant to throw stones at heavily armed Israeli troops.
Amnesty said judicial procedures had regularly been breached in the detention of children. It said that they were arrested, often during the night, as a matter of routine, rather than being summoned for questioning at police stations later.
It said they were reportedly put under psychological pressure during interrogations by being shouted at, insulted or threatened.
"In some cases children were reportedly beaten by the police," Amnesty said.