Monday, May 19, 2014, 20:35 The parents of one of the minors detained by the GSS turned to the Israel National Council for the Child (NCC) and demanded that they intervene in order to verify the status of their son who has not been allowed to meet with an attorney. Also, on Monday, May 19 deliberations were held on the five detainees being held by the GSS.
Five youths, four of them minors, are currently being held in remand by the GSS. Only one of them, a 16-year-old detained on Sunday, May 11 has been allowed to meet with an attorney. Due to the ban on meeting with an attorney the family of one of the youths has requested that the NCC intervene and verify the status of their son. The youth is 16 years old and was detained on Wednesday, May 14 by the GSS. He has been in remand for six days and still has not been allowed to meet with an attorney.
On Monday, May 19 the parents (Jerusalem residents) of one of the detainees wrote to Dr. Yitzhak Kadman, the executive director and founder of The National Council for the Child (NCC): “We feel powerless faced with the disappearance of our 16-year-old son and turn to you as a last resort.
“Last Wednesday morning our son was walking on Nevi’im Street in Jerusalem when suddenly men wearing civilian clothes grabbed him and took him to an unknown location. Since that morning, six days ago already, we have neither heard from him nor seen him and we do not know what his condition is.
“We are being assisted by a non-profit legal aid organization and also the attorney who is representing him has not seen him and does not know what his status is or why he was detained,” wrote the worried parents. “We understand that the GSS is investigating our son and that a special and rarely issued order has been issued prohibiting him from meeting with an attorney.
“We turn to you in an urgent request that your organization immediately intervene and examine his medical and emotional condition. We remind you that the subject at hand is a young child. It cannot be that in a democratic state such as ours occurrences such as this become routine. As concerned parents we ask: Where are the staunch defenders of human rights? Where is the concern for the rights of minors?”
Honenu attorney Adi Kedar, who is representing the minor, stated that, “This is an opportunity for the NCC to delve into the matter and examine up-close the frequently recurring violations of the law against minors. The violations of the law continue as no-one is considering the severe consequences to a minor of a long stay in the basement of the GSS under inhumane conditions.”
Remand extended for all five GSS detainees
On Monday, May 19 the five GSS detainees from the past week were brought to the Petah Tikva Magistrate Court for a deliberation on their case. The remand of the 18-year-old detained on Sunday, May 11 was extended by five days, until Friday, May 23. He is still being prevented from meeting with an attorney and the GSS refuses to inform Honenu attorney Adi Kedar of the exact charges against him.
The 16-year-old detained on Wednesday, May 14 is also still being prevented from meeting with an attorney. His remand was extended by two days, until Wednesday, May 21.
The remand of three additional minors, one detained on
Sunday, May 11 and the other two on Sunday, May 18 has been extended by four days, until Thursday, May 22.
Dozens of relatives and friends of the detainees protested on Monday, May 19 outside of the courthouse in a demand to release the detainees and to allow them to meet with an attorney.
Attorney Barak Friedman, who is representing one of the minors on behalf of Honenu said on Monday, May 19 after the deliberation that, “The new tools of investigation of the
Israeli Police, preventing a meeting between an attorney and a client, turn the exception to the rule into the rule. The fundamental rights of a suspect are being crushed in the name of the law. Is this the manner in which the Israeli Police and the State of Israel investigate the truth? It seems that their method is in error.”
Photos: Protest outside Petah Tikva Magistrate Court, Attorney Barak Friedman
Photo credit: Honenu