By Agence France-Presse
Monday, July 18th, 2011 -- 8:01 am
Israel is violating the rights of young Palestinians accused of stone-throwing, failing to protect them as minors and mistreating them during arrest, an Israeli rights group said on Monday.
In a report entitled "No Minor Matter," B'Tselem found that military law encouraged minors to plead guilty to avoid lengthy pre-trial detention, and that children were routinely sentenced to prison terms as a punishment rather than as a final resort.
Of the 835 Palestinian minors, aged 17 and younger, arrested and prosecuted for stone-throwing between 2005 and 2010, just one was acquitted, the rights group said.
Palestinian children living in flashpoint areas of the West Bank and east Jerusalem are regularly arrested by Israeli forces for throwing stones during demonstrations or clashes.
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http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/07/18/israel-violates-rights-of-young-palestinians-study/