Duma Detainees' Families Demand Torture Investigation

The families of the boys who are in detention on suspicion of setting fire to a home in Duma village causing three deaths, including a baby, issued a statement, demanding the establishment of a parliamentary investigation committee that will dig into the case and get at the truth regarding accusations of torture that was used against their children.

The statement reads: "We, the parents of the youths detained on suspicion for the murder in Duma village condemn the murder but are convinced that our children were not involved in it.

"We fear that the entire detention of our children was the result of public pressure, which led to hasty arrests and to applying severe torture, intended to force them to admit to a crime they did not commit.

"We demand the establishment of a parliamentary investigative committee that would be composed of elected officials who will examine the testimony of our children, watch all the tapes of the investigation and determine whether abuse was committed against our children as they are saying, as well as review the harsh humiliation directed towards our families.

"We condemn the attacks by politicians against our children, and their automatic blame for the Duma murder without a trial and without establishing the facts. We call upon the public's leaders to find the courage to demand an impartial investigation into the torture in order to arrive at the truth.

The families' names are concealed under a court gag order, and so they are not afforded the right to publicly protest their predicament.