Norwegian Film Depicts Suffering of Palestinian Child Prisoners
“When the Boys Return,” directed by Norwegian director Tone Andersen, is a documentary addressing the challenges that Palestinian minors face in Israeli jails with a focus on the process of reentering society after their detention.
The film presents a detailed view into the lives of 11 children, and how they are affected by their detention.
It has won several awards in European film festivals, including Stockholm and al-Jazeera for documentary films, and was shown on European television stations in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Britain and Holland.
Human rights organizations state that the Israeli occupation arrests children under the age of 18 years every day from different areas in the Palestinian territories, and that they appear before courts despite not reaching the legal age that allows their trial.
These institutions quoted testimonies of Palestinian minor ex-detainees, in which they confirmed that they were exposed to torture and sexual harassment in the occupation custody.
Many detained children display symptoms of post-traumatic-stress disorder when they are released from their detention, and almost all find it difficult to slip back into the position they occupied in their families and communities prior to arrest.
Source: Palestine Info
