Testimony: I.M.A.
| Name: | I.M.A. |
| Age: | 14 |
| Date of incident: | 24 November 2015 |
| Location: | Aida camp, West Bank |
| Accusation: | Throwing stones |
On 24 November 2015, a 14-year-old minor from Aida refugee camp was arrested by Israeli soldiers at 2:00 p.m. during clashes and accused of throwing stones. He reports ill treatment and being denied his basic legal rights under Israeli military law. He reports being fined NIS 6,500 and released 8 days after his arrest.
I was arrested on the main road near the camp at around 2:00 p.m. There were stone throwing incidents in the area at the time and I went to see what was going on. As soon as I arrived in the area Israeli soldiers started to chase the boys who were throwing stones. I started to run but the soldiers were very fast and they grabbed me.
As soon as the soldiers grabbed me they started to beat me. Then they took me inside the military base near Rachel’s Tomb. They made me sit on the ground for about an hour and a soldier was there to keep an eye on me. A soldier then tied my hands in front of me with three plastic ties: one on each wrist and one connecting the two. The ties were not painful. I was also blindfolded and then put in the back of the jeep and made to sit on the floor.
The jeep drove for about an hour before stopping at Atarot police station, in East Jerusalem. On arrival at Atarot I was checked by a doctor. The doctor removed the ties and the blindfold and put them back on when he was done. I was then taken to a room where I waited for about three hours. During this time I was not allowed to use the bathroom or drink water.
After about three hours I was put back in the jeep and driven to the police station in the settlement of Kiryat Arba. The drive took about two hours. As soon as I arrived at the police station I was taken for interrogation. It was around 9:00 p.m.
The interrogator wore an Israeli police uniform. He removed the blindfold and kept my ties on. He phoned my father and told him I was arrested because I was accused of throwing stones and that I was going to appear in court at Ofer the following day. He did not inform me of any rights.
The interrogator then accused me of throwing stones at soldiers. I told him this was not true. The interrogation lasted for about an hour and I kept silent most of the time. He kept saying that he was going open up my ass if I didn’t confess. He kept insisting that I threw stones. I denied the accusation and told him I was in the area playing. He wanted me to name the boys who were throwing stones near the Wall. I told him I didn’t know them. He then showed me some more photos and I confessed to throwing stones at soldiers.
He then printed out my statement in Hebrew and I signed it without understanding what it said. I was then photographed and fingerprinted. Then I was blindfolded and taken to the back of a jeep where I sat on a seat. The jeep drove for about 30 minutes to the police station in Etzion settlement.
At Etzion I was strip searched and taken into a cell where the ties and the blindfold were removed. The following morning soldiers brought me some food. Then they handcuffed and shackled me and drove me to Ofer military court, near Jerusalem.
A lawyer was in court but my parents were not. They were late and the hearing was adjourned. I was then taken to Section 13 in Ofer prison. I had another hearing which my father attended. I accepted a plea bargain and my family had to pay a NIS 6,500 fine. I was released at 8:00 p.m. on 1 December 2015.
