Palestinian teen hospitalized in cuffs

Palestinian teen wounded in IDF shooting was hospitalized in Israeli hospital, held handcuffed for 4 days. 'This is routine procedure,' IDF claims

Ali Waked |Last update: 12.04.05 , 07:39

Palestinian teen Taher Udda, who was shot and wounded by an IDF force Wednesday, has been hospitalized in Israel after suffering injuries from having his hands and feet cuffed.

The teen's conditions were eased only after the intervention of humanitarian organization Machsom Watch, which led to the removal of the handcuffs from his legs.

Fourteen-year-old Udda was shot by troops when he visited a house at his hometown village of Madma near Ramallah, in order to deliver gas to one of his father's costumers.

While Udda was visiting a clash broke out between local youths, who were hurling stones and bottles at vehicles, and an IDF force. Troops opened fire at the teens in response.

Udda, who according to his family did not take part in the conflict, was shot in the leg, and taken by his relatives to the roadblock between the village and Nablus.

Family banned from visiting

"The soldiers waited for us at the roadblock and wouldn't allow us to take Taher with a Palestinian ambulance to the Nablus hospital," his uncle recounted. "An Israeli ambulance was already waiting at the roadblock and the paramedics provided him with initial treatment. The soldiers then told us that Taher will be transferred to an Israeli hospital, and ordered us to return to the village."

Taher's family reported the incident to the Physicians for Human Rights Organization, who took over monitoring Taher's location, and discovered he was hospitalized at the Schneider hospital in Petah Tikva, where doctors operated on his leg.

The teen's family was prohibited from visiting him until Friday, when a family member, not his parents, was allowed to arrive at the hospital. The relative was shocked to find the young patient in handcuffs, as was Machsom Watch activist Noah Perlson who came to visit the wounded Taher.

"The soldiers allowed me to stay with the boy only for half an hour, and the IDF's Spokesperson Unit informed me that it was prohibited to chain the boy's legs," she said.

According to the report of another activist who visited Taher Saturday, the handcuffs were indeed removed from the teen's legs following Perlson's complaint, but not from his hands.

"I don't understand this," Taher's uncle said. "A 14-years-old boy is lying there under the supervision of two soldiers, and still they keep his arms and legs cuffed."

The family also complained that the hospital refused to hand over Taher's medical file, thus withholding information pertaining to his condition.

No exceptions

A Schneider Hospital spokesman said in response that "the hospital objects to handcuffing patients regardless of their religion, race or gender. After the teen was handcuffed, the physician on duty instructed the handcuffs be removed, but the IDF objected to the order, and so the handcuffs remained on."

One IDF spokesman responded by saying that Taher was wounded while attempting to throw Molotov cocktails at an IDF force.

"Following his injury, the teen was hospitalized at an Israeli hospital as a prisoner. The IDF was prepared to make an exception and allow the teen's uncle to visit him, but any other conditions imposed on him relate to his position as a prisoner, and are not unusual," he said.

According to IDF procedures, Palestinians who are detained on suspicions of terrorist activity remain handcuffed while in custody, including during medical treatment.

Sources in the army stressed that the handcuffs were removed during doctors' visits, and when the teen requested to get out of bed.