Interviewer: Were there cases where a soldier or a commander went overboard, and there was real violence or abuse?

 

Soldier: Always. It’s not a normal situation to be in, and 19-year-old kids go overboard. There were situations in which they really did, and others where they were even too soft with people.

 

Interviewer: Do you have examples?

 

Soldier: Yes. Just walking down the street and hitting kids with a stick in the knee so they trip and fall, that’s going overboard. Catching children who cross the checkpoint because they don’t understand what they were supposed to do and just walked on – they would just hit them.

 

Interviewer: How old were these kids?

 

Soldier: 10 year olds.

 

Interviewer: Do you have a specific example?

 

Soldier: Two brothers were walking along the 'Pharmacy’ Post, which is a kind of trailer checking post. They just walked through. The metal detector bleeped, and the soldiers yelled at them to stop and come back and they didn’t hear them, or didn’t really want to hear. One of the soldiers there ran, caught a kid, and there’s this iron post at the side there.

 

Interviewer: Looks like a big oven?

 

Soldier: Exactly.

 

Interviewer: It’s a kind of protective container.

 

Soldier: Yes. He pushed the kid inside there. Beat him up for five minutes and then let him go.

 

Interviewer: A 10 year old kid.

 

Soldier: Yes. The kid walked away after about 15 minutes. Limping.