Ramallah: The Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) reported that 65 high school students, based on data from the Ministry of Education, are in Israeli custody and have been unable to participate in this year’s secondary school examinations.
According to Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA, these students have endured difficult conditions, including torture, mistreatment, and separation from their families since the onset of the genocide. One of their fundamental rights-the right to education-has been withheld.
The PPS stated that Israeli authorities have escalated arrest campaigns focusing on students from various educational levels. Previously secured rights for Palestinian prisoners, such as access to education, have been revoked, and detention conditions have worsened significantly.
The statement emphasized that the prisoners’ right to education has been a key issue for which they have long struggled, even as the prison administration repeatedly attempted to deny it. Despite these challenges, prisoners had managed to uphold this right. However, with the genocide’s beginning, all their rights were stripped away, and the prison environment turned into continuous spaces for torture and abuse.
The Prisoners’ Club declared that the current prison system executes a broad policy of systematic torture, humiliation, and abuse, aiming to break the prisoners’ spirit both psychologically and physically.
The organization called on international human rights groups and relevant UN bodies focused on human rights, children’s rights, and education rights to take responsibility for addressing the increasing crimes against detained Palestinian students. It urged these entities to act promptly to pressure the occupying authorities to cease targeting students and depriving them of their educational rights, ensure the protection of imprisoned children and students, and stop the systematic torture practices that violate international humanitarian law, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.