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Home » Children »

Testimony: M.A.I.R.

 

Name:

M.A.I.R.

Age: 16
Date: 24 January 2018
Location: Al 'Arrub camp, West Bank
Accusation: Throwing stones/Molotovs

On 24 January 2018, a 16-year-old minor from Al 'Arrub refugee camp was arrested by Israeli soldiers from home at 1:00 a.m. and accused of throwing stones and Molotov cocktails. He reports ill treatment and being denied his basic legal rights under Israeli military law. He reports being released without charge 14 hours later. 

I was awake checking my Facebook page at around 1:00 a.m. when I heard a commotion outside our house. Moments later there was a knock at the door. My father answered the door and seven Israeli soldiers entered our home. Two of the soldiers wore face masks and there were many more soldiers outside.
 
As soon as the soldiers entered our house they started talking to my father in Hebrew. Then the commander saw my name on my father’s identity card and told me I was under arrest. My mother asked the commander why I was under arrest but he simply ignored her. Then he showed my father a document with details about my arrest but he did not give him a copy.
 
I put on a jacket, trousers and shoes and said goodbye to my family. At the door the soldiers tied my hands to the front with three plastic ties: one on each wrist and another connecting the two. The ties were not painful. The soldiers then walked me towards the military watchtower near the entrance to the camp and made me sit. They blindfolded me and left me for about 30 minutes. The weather was cold. 
 
During the 30 minutes solders slapped me twice and swore at me calling me a “son of a whore”. 
 
After 30 minutes I was taken to the back of a jeep where I sat on a seat. The jeep drove to the settlement of Karmi Zur and some soldiers got off. Then the jeep drove on to the police station in Etzion settlement. On the way the soldiers slapped me. We arrived at Etzion at around 3:00 a.m.
 
Inside a compound in Etzion the soldiers walked me while I was still blindfolded. Then I was taken inside where a doctor removed the blindfold and examined me and then  blindfolded me again. He made me sign a document. Then he took me somewhere else where I remained until around 10:00 a.m. I was tied and blindfolded. During this time I was allowed to use the toilet. Then I was taken for interrogation.
 
The interrogator phoned my mother and told her I needed a lawyer. He asked her whether she wanted to appoint a lawyer and she told him it was his duty to appoint me a lawyer and pay for him. Then I coughed and the interrogator was upset and told me to put my hand over my mouth. I told him I could not do it because I was tied. When I said this he slapped me on my hand. Then he removed the blindfold and sat me down. He had a tape recorder and he turned it on.
 
Without informing me of my rights he accused me of throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at soldiers. I denied the accusation. Then he wanted to know more details about throwing Molotov cocktails and throwing stones, like how far away I was standing, where I put on the mask, where I stood…etc. but I continued to deny the accusations. 
 
Then the interrogator showed me some photographs of young boys throwing stones and asked me for their names. I told him I did not know them. Then he pulled out more photographs and asked me for names and I told him I did not know any of the boys in the photographs. Then he took me outside and told me he was going to ask soldiers to lock me up in prison. He did not ask me to sign any documents and made me sit in an outdoor area and told me he was monitoring me on camera and that if I moved I would be shot. I sat there for about 30 minutes and did not move. Then he came back and took me back to the interrogation room.
 
The interrogator asked me whether my mother had appointed a lawyer. Then he called a lawyer and allowed me to speak to him. The lawyer told me not to say a word until he arrived. Then the interrogator told me if I confessed he would send me home. He told me all the other boys who confessed were sent home. I told him I had nothing to confess. He did not inform me of my rights and accused me of teaching boys how to make Molotov cocktails and wanted to know why I did it. I denied this accusation. 
 
I think the interrogator wanted to scare me with serious accusations so that I would confess to something trivial, but I continued to deny all the accusations. He interrogated me for another 30 minutes. He did not ask me to sign any documents.
 
Then a group of people in civilian clothes searched me with my clothes on, blindfolded me and then took me to a cell. There was an awful stench in the room. Then the interrogator came and told me to confess if I wanted to go home. 
 
Shortly afterwards the interrogator took me to the front gate and I was released. As he left he told me he was going to come back for me in a month or two. A Palestinian family from a village near Hebron gave me a lift home. I arrived home at around 3:30 p.m. and my parents were very happy to see me.