UN agencies call for immediate release of a seriously ill Palestinian child

OCCUPIED AL-QUDS, Jan.20, (ST)-The UNICEF, the UNRWA and the OHCHR have called on the Israeli occupation authorities to immediately release Amal Nakhleh, a seriously-ill Palestinian teenager, who has been in Israeli detention without charge or trial for over a year.

 

“Neither Amal nor his lawyers or family have been informed of the reasons for his arrest and detention. Amal suffers from a severe autoimmune disease that requires continuous medical treatment and monitoring,” said the UN agencies in a joint statement released on Thursday.

 

The statement called for Amal’s immediate and unconditional release from detention in line with international human rights law.

 

“Amal’s case is one of the more prolonged cases where a Palestinian child has been detained without charge or trial. It is however not an isolated case. Currently, at least another three Palestinians are in administrative detention who were under the age of 18 when first detained,” the statement added.

 

It concluded by saying: “We echo the calls of the UN Secretary-General who in his Report on Children and Armed Conflict has, every year since 2015, urges Israel to end the administrative detention of children. This practice deprives children of their liberty and must immediately end,” according to WAFA. 

 

Basma Qaddour