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Home » Children »

Testimony: N.T.A.I.

 

Name: N.T.A.I.
Age: 17
Date: 21 April 2018
Location: Al 'Arrub camp, West Bank
Accusation: Throwing stones

On 21 April 2018, a 17-year-old minor from Al 'Arrub refugee camp was arrested by Israeli soldiers from home at 2:30 a.m. and accused of throwing stones. He reports ill treatment and being denied his basic legal rights under Israeli military law. He reports being released without charge 4 days after his arrest. 

I was asleep on the couch in the front room when I heard very loud banging on our front door. It was around 2:30 a.m. My mother answered the door and about 15 Israeli soldiers entered our home and told my mother they were looking for me. The commander told me to ready because I was under arrest. He did not give my family any documents and did not tell us the reason for my arrest. 
 
As soon as I was dressed the soldiers tied my hands to the front with two plastic ties on top of each other. The ties were very tight and painful. Then they walked me towards the metal gate at the entrance to the refugee camp and handed me over to another group of soldiers. I was blindfolded by the gate and then I was taken into the military watchtower where I remained for about 20 minutes. 
 
After about 20 minutes I was taken to the back of a military jeep where I sat on the metal floor. Inside the jeep soldiers punched me and kept pushing and knocking my head while I was blindfolded. 
 
The jeep drove a short distance to the polices station in Etzion settlement where I was examined by a doctor. The doctor asked me some questions about my health but did not remove the ties or the blindfold. Then I waited for another hour in a room before I was taken for interrogation at around 10:00 a.m.
 
The interrogator took me to a dark back room where they keep tools and started to question me there without informing me of any rights. He accused me of throwing stones and wanted me to confess. I denied the accusation and I asked him to remove the blindfold because my eyes hurt. He removed the blindfold and also allowed me to use the toilet. Then I was taken to an interrogation room. 
 
The interrogator was wearing civilian clothes. He had a tape recorder on his desk. As soon as I entered the room he accused me of throwing stones and showed me photographs. I denied the accusation. He accused me of lying and put his face very close to mine and stared at me. I was scared. He threatened that if I did not confess he was going to arrest me again and again. I told him I had nothing to confess to. Then he showed me more photographs and repeated the accusation and I denied it again. The interrogation lasted for about one-and-a-half hours and I did not confess.
 
The interrogator did not tell me I had the right to remain silent. On the contrary, he kept urging me to speak. In the end he called a lawyer and allowed me to speak to him for less than a minute. The lawyer told me not to be scared and before he could say anything else the interrogator took the telephone away and hung up. Then he showed me documents in Hebrew and asked me to sign them but I refused to sign. 
 
After the interrogation I was photographed and fingerprinted and then strip searched. Then I was taken to a cell where I stayed from around noon until around 4:00 p.m. Then I was taken to Ofer prison, near Jerusalem. We arrived at Ofer prison at around 6:00 p.m.
 
At Ofer I waited for a long time and then I was strip searched again and put in Section 13. Three days later I was released from Ofer. I did not appear in the military court. I was released on 24 April 2018, without charge and without a fine.