BETHLEHEM, West Bank - A Palestinian teenager arrested for throwing stones at Israeli soldiers in the West Bank says he was severely tortured by his interrogators, a prisoners' defense association said Tuesday.
Mahmud Radi Erakat, 16, who is being held in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc west of Bethlehem, denounced the alleged abuse in a sworn affidavit taken by a Palestinian lawyer who visited him Tuesday, according to the Prisoners' Club.
In the affidavit, Erakat claimed he had been hung by his legs from a steel bar attached to the ceiling of his interrogation room. He said a cord had been wrapped around his testicles and then yanked.
He said he had also been burned with cigarettes, severely beaten and deprived of food and drink for 24 hours, as well as being kept awake and not allowed to go to the toilet.
He added that he was also pelted with stones by soldiers until his body and face bled, and that each time he was struck the soldiers would applaud.
Erakat, who was arrested outside Abu Dis on Saturday, said he was first held at a detention center in the Maale Adumim settlement near Jerusalem.
No immediate comment was obtained from the Israeli army.
04/05/2005 14:52 GMT