Testimony: Q.W.F.B.
Name: | Q.W.F.B. |
Age: | 15 |
Date: | 4 June 2017 |
Location: | Al 'Arrub camp, West Bank |
Accusation: | None |
On 4 June 2017, a 15-year-old minor from Al 'Arrub refugee camp was arrested by Israeli soldiers from home at 5:00 a.m. He reports ill treatment. He reports that he was not accused of any offence and was not interrogated. He reports being released without charge 13 hours after he was arrested.
My mother woke me up at about 5:00 a.m. and told me that Israeli soldiers were in our home asking for me. I was in shock because I could not think of any reason why they might be looking for me. I got up and went to the living room where I saw about 16 soldiers, one of them was wearing a mask.
As soon as they saw me the commander identified me and told me to put my clothes on because I was under arrest. I then said good-bye to my family and the soldiers took me outside where they tied my hands behind my back with two plastic ties, one inside the other. The ties were very tight and painful and left a mark on my wrists for a long time. I complained and asked the soldiers to tie me to the front but they refused.
As they took me outside the house a soldier deliberately pushed me against the wall and then against some barbed wire which caused me a lot of pain. By this time young men from the camp started to throw rocks at the soldiers and one of the rocks nearly hit me on the head. I was scared.
The soldiers made me walk for about 30 minutes towards the nearby military base. There they shackled and blindfolded me and aggressively pushed me into the back of a troop carrier where I sat on a seat. The soldiers in the troop carrier swore at me. They called me "a son of a whore" and "a brother of a whore".
I remained at the military base for about 30 minutes. Then I was taken to the entrance of the camp where I remained for another 30 minutes. Then I was taken in another vehicle where I was pushed on to the metal floor.
The vehicle took me to the police station in Etzion settlement. Inside the settlement they made me walk for a long distance and then left me outside a shipping container. I asked for the time and a soldier told me it was noon. Then I was transferred to the military base outside Beit Jala where they kept me outside on a chair until the evening.
In the evening I was taken in vehicle to the Etzion roundabout at the entrance to town of Beit Fajjar and dropped off. The soldiers removed the ties, the blindfold and the shackles and told me to go home. I crossed the road and walked home by myself. I arrived home at around 7:00 p.m.