Israel faces child-abuse claims http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/05/201053082239109343.html

An international children's rights charity has said it has evidence that Palestinian children held in Israeli custody have been subjected to sexual abuse in an effort to extract confessions from them.The Geneva-based Defence for Children International (DCI) has collected 100 sworn affadavits from Palestinian children who said they were mistreated by their Israeli captors.

Fourteen of the statements say they were sexually abused or threatened with sexual assault to pressure them into confessions. Al Jazeera's Nour Odeh met one of the children, identified only as "N", who says he suffered sexual abuse at the hands of his interrogators.DCI officials say that when they complain to the Israeli military about the treatment of the children, their allegations are dismissed as untrue.

Now the organisation has submitted its evidence to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture to try and increase pressure on Israel to stamp out the alleged abuse.According to our correspondent, Israel has two sets of laws: one for its citizens and another for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. All Palestinians, minors and adults, are tried in military courts.