Comparative graph
Statistics
Developments
Fact sheet
Newsletter
About us
Contact
Donate
 
Bookmark and Share
  change font size تصغير الخط تكبير الخط print
Home » Children »

Testimony: A.I.A.M.

 

Name: A.I.A.M.
Age: 14
Date: 24 December 2018
Location: Al 'Arrub camp, West Bank
Accusation: Throwing stones

On 24 December 2018, a 14-year-old minor from Al 'Arrub refugee camp was arrested by Israeli soldiers from home at 3:00 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 3 days after his arrest. 

My mother woke me up at around 3:00 a.m. and told me that Israeli soldiers were at our front door. Then I heard loud banging at the door. Shortly afterwards about 10 soldiers entered our home after making a big dent in the front door. 
 
The commander mentioned my brother to my father and then mentioned me. Then he told my father they wanted to take me for questioning at the police station about throwing stones and Molotov cocktail. He gave my father a document which was written in Hebrew and asked him to sign it but my father refused to sign. 
 
I put some clothes on and said goodbye to my family and then I was taken outside where a soldier tied my hands to the front with three plastic ties: one on each wrist and another connecting the two. The ties were very tight and painful and left marks on my wrists for a long time.
 
Then I was led for about 300 meters towards the cemetery. When we got there soldiers swore at me and called me “a son of a whore” and “a brother of a whore”. Then they blindfolded me and took me to the back of a troop carrier where I sat on the metal floor. Later I was transferred to the back of a jeep where I was also made to sit on the metal floor. A soldier also slapped me when I spoke to another detainee who was in the jeep. 
 
The jeep drove to the police station in Etzion settlement where I was taken to a shipping container and left on the floor for about four hours, maybe more. I was not able to sleep because a soldier poked me and woke me up each time I fell asleep. I had to beg to use the toilet and the soldier finally allowed me. 
 
During this time I was examined by a doctor who asked me to sign a document but I refused to sign. At around 10:00 a.m. I was taken for interrogation.
 
The interrogator removed the ties and the blindfold. He told me to wait until he finished talking and then I could talk. Without informing me of my rights he accused me of throwing stones and Molotov cocktail with my cousin. I denied the accusation. Then he lifted his feet up on the chair I was sitting on and told me I had to confess. When I refused to confess he thumped the table and raised his voice at me and told me I was “a son of a whore”. 
 
Half-way through the interrogation I told the interrogator I wanted to speak to a lawyer. He phoned a lawyer and allowed me to speak to him. The interrogator put the telephone on speaker and remained in the room while I spoke to the lawyer. The lawyer told me not to confess and not to mention any names. He also told me he was going to get me released. The conversation lasted for less than two minutes.
 
Then the interrogator continued to accuse me of the same accusations and I continued to deny them. Then he threatened to revoke my father’s work permit if I did not confess. The interrogation lasted for about two hours and during this time the interrogator took me outside the room and brought me in again several times. Then he took me to another room where a different interrogator questioned me. 
 
Without informing me of my rights the second interrogator named a person and told me I had to confess against him. When I told him I did not know the person and refused to confess against him he slapped me. Then he showed me a document written in Hebrew and asked me to signed it but I refused to sign. 
 
Then I was taken to another room where they took my fingerprints and photograph. Then I was taken to a cell where I was strip searched. I was left in the room with another detainee and I was able to sleep for about an hour. Then I was taken to Ofer prison, near Jerusalem, where I was strip searched again before being taken to section 13.
 
The following day I was taken to Ofer military court. My parents were not informed and that was why they did not attend the hearing. The hearing lasted for a short time and I did not understand much. After the hearing I was taken back to Ofer prison. 
 
At around 10:00 p.m. I was released from prison. My parents were waiting for me outside Ofer and I went home with them. I arrived home at around 1:00 a.m. I was released without charge on 26 December 2018.