A 14 year old Palestinian boy in Israeli custody, who recently underwent an operation on the stomach under full anesthesia, has not been allowed to contact his parents.

The boy (''R.'') has not been allowed to contact his parents since his arrest on 18 October 2004. He recently underwent an appendicitis operation, but is still denied contact with his parents. Physicians for Human Rights-Israel sent a letter on 16 February 2005 to the Israeli Prison Service (IPS), asking that the child be allowed to contact his family in light of the operation. The IPS responded on, 22 February 2005, asking that the non-profit organization ''update his family''. The response was signed by Dr Alex Adler, Chief Medical Officer of the IPS.

Physicians for Human Rights-Israel today sent a letter to the Director-General of the Ministry of Health and to the Commissioner of Israel Prison Service demanding that an investigation be opened and that procedures be established in the IPS enabling ongoing contact between minors and their parents. A large number of Palestinian minors held in Israel are denied the basic right to contact with their families. Also, there was a specific demand that R. be allowed to contact his parents immediately.

Defence for Children International/Palestine Section and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel jointly condemn the treatment of the child on the following grounds:

1. The operating doctor should have contacted the family of the child in regards to the operation. According to the Israeli Patients Rights Act of 1996 (Art 15:3) the operation should have been conducted only with the parents' consent, especially since there seems to be no reason why the operating doctor could not have contacted them. Even if this was an emergency operation, the operating doctor should have retroactively informed the parents of the operation. It seems that that neither the operating doctor nor the IPS had any intention of informing the family and, being that Physicians for Human Rights-Israel discovered the case, expected the association to do that job.

2. The Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits the transferring of protected persons into the territory of the occupying power. The Palestinian child and over 200 other Palestinian children like him are being held in Israel .

3. The child is being denied the right to regular contact with his family. For example, the UN Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty (Art 60) states ''Every juvenile should have the right to receive regular and frequent visits, in principle once a week and not less than once a month''. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (Art 37:C) states that every child should ''have the right to maintain contact with his or her family through correspondence and visits, save in exceptional circumstances''. The Fourth Geneva Convention (Art116) also guarantees this right to adult internees.

For more information or to receive copies of the letter sent today:

Defence for Children International/Palestine Section:
George Abu Al-Zulof 052 2 243 6289, or the Advocacy Unit 02 240 7530 (ext 104)

Physicians for Human Rights-Israel: Physicians for Human Rights-Israel:
Maher Talhami, Adv., Intervention Coordinator, Prisoners and Detainees Project, +972-54-6995299, or Shabtai Gold, Public Outreach, +972-54-4860630