DCI/PS

Voices From the Occupation

Name: A.
Date of Arrest: 26 May 2010
Age at arrest: 15
Accusation: Throwing stones

At around 1:30am, on the morning of 26 May 2010, a 15-year-old boy is arrested by Israeli soldiers from his family home near Hebron, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
„I was sleeping when I woke up to banging on the front door,‟ recalls 15-year-old A., „my father also woke up and went to open the door.‟ A. was beside his father when he opened the door and saw many soldiers, who told the family to leave the house. „We all came out except my one-year-old brother, but one of the soldiers said to my father that everyone should get out without exception. My father told him that my brother is only a one-year-old and if he comes out, he might start coughing and feeling cold, but the soldier insisted that he must come out.‟
Once the family was outside a soldier asked for A. who identified himself. „Come with me,‟ ordered the soldier, even though A. was not wearing a shirt or any shoes. A.’s father asked the soldiers where he was taking his son but the only response he got was „we‟ll take him and bring him back shortly.‟ A.’s father then went back inside the house and got some shoes, a shirt and a jacket for his son, but these were taken from him by a soldier and placed inside a military vehicle before he could give them to A. A.’s hands were then tied behind his back with plastic ties and he was blindfolded, before being placed face downwards on the floor of a military vehicle. Once the vehicle started to move, A. felt soldiers placing their feet on his back. „I asked one of them to remove the plastic ties but he said “shut up,” and hit me on the shoulder with the barrel of his assault rifle.‟
A. believes that he was first taken to the nearby Israeli settlement of Karmi Zur, where he was taken inside and made to sit on a chair, tied and blindfolded until around 9:00am. „At around 5:00am,‟ recalls A., „I needed to use the bathroom, so I asked one of the soldiers, but he said, “not now, no bathroom now.” A. was only permitted to use the toilet at around 11:00am, after he had been interrogated.
At some point during the morning, A. was transferred the short distance to Etzion Interrogation and Detention Centre, inside the Israeli settlement of Gush Etzion, and was interrogated. „At around 10:00 or 10:30am, I was taken to the interrogation room,‟ recalls A. „The plastic ties were replaced with handcuffs. “Sit down on the floor,” ordered the interrogator. I was still blindfolded. “Don‟t you want to tell me who threw stones with you?” he asked me. “I didn‟t throw any stones and I don‟t know who threw stones either,” I said to him. “You‟re a liar, motherf**cker,” he said, and kicked me hard on the back.‟ The interrogator then left the room and returned five minutes later with what A. believes were car battery jump leads. „He placed one end on my handcuffs and the other end on my penis and I felt great pain and started screaming. He said “I want you to confess or otherwise I will plug in the cable and you will never have children.” Initially A. refused to confess but the interrogator kicked him in the back several times and placed his foot on his handcuffs. „I confessed to throwing stones a few weeks before as well as two years ago. I confessed because I didn‟t want to be tortured all over again.‟
On 1 June 2010, after two appearances in Ofer Military Court and one appeal, A. was released on bail of NIS 500 (US$140) and two guarantees of NIS 20,000 (US$5,500) from his father and uncle. A. has yet to be charged with an offence. Each year, around 700 Palestinian children are detained and prosecuted in the Israeli military court system. Most of these children provide confessions during their interrogation. Reports of ill-treatment and abuse are common.

A.’s case has also recently been reported in Haaretz Newspaper.
14 June 2010