On 1 June 2014, a 15-year-old minor from Al Fawwar refugee camp was arrested by Israeli soldiers from home at 3:15 a.m. He reports ill treatment and being denied his basic legal rights under Israeli military law. He reports being released on bail of NIS 1,500 on 5 June 2014.

It was at 3:15 am when Israeli soldiers surrounded our home. I was asleep and my father woke me up to tell me soldiers were inside our house. I got up and went to the living room and saw many heavily armed soldiers. One of the soldiers told my father they were going to arrest me. They did not say why and didn’t present any documents. My brothers got into an argument with the soldiers as they tried to understand why they wanted to arrest me. My father tried to calm everyone down because he didn’t want things to go out of control. I went back to the bedroom to get dressed.

 

The minute soldiers took me outside the house they tied my hands to the front with one plastic tie and walked me to the military watchtower at the entrance to the camp. The tie was painful but I did not complain because I was scared I might be beaten. We walked for about 10 minutes. When we arrived at the watchtower the soldiers replaced the tie with three plastic ties: one on each wrist and one connecting them. They also blindfolded me. Five minutes later I was taken into the back of a jeep where they made me sit on the metal floor.

 

The jeep drove for about 10 minutes before it arrived at the settlement of Haggai located near the camp. I was able to read the sign from under the blindfold. When we arrived I was taken out of the jeep and made to stand outside for 10 minutes. Then I was taken into a big room with lots of chairs. There were three other detainees there from the camp. I was kept in this room until the morning. I asked the soldier who was guarding us if I could use the bathroom but he refused.

 

At around 8:00 a.m. I was put back in the jeep and made to sit on the metal floor. The jeep drove for about 30 minutes before it arrived at the settlement of Kiryat Arba. I was immediately taken to the interrogation room.

 

The interrogator introduced himself as "Moshe" and removed the blindfold. He had a tape recorder in front of him. Before he asked me any questions he told me I had the right to see a lawyer. I told him I didn’t need a lawyer because I hadn’t done anything wrong. Then he asked for my father’s number and called my father and asked him to appoint a lawyer. He then started to interrogate me. He did not tell me I had the right to silence.

 

Moshe told me I was accused of throwing stones at Israeli cars on Route 60. I told him this wasn’t true. He told me a boy from the camp had confessed against me. I told the interrogator this couldn’t be true and asked him to bring that boy to confront me, but he never did. Then the interrogator printed out a document written in Hebrew and read it out to me in Arabic. I signed it because it matched what I had told him. The interrogation lasted for approximately one hour.

 

After the interrogation I was fingerprinted and photographed and taken to another room where I remained until around 1:00 p.m. I wasn’t given any food. Then I was blindfolded and put in the back of a jeep where I sat on the metal floor. I was still tied to the front with three plastic ties.   The jeep drove for about an hour before it arrived at Etzion police station. I was kept inside the jeep for another hour because the policemen at Etzion refused to admit me claiming there was paperwork missing.

 

The jeep drove back to Kiryat Arba where I stayed inside the jeep for another 30 minutes. Then the jeep drove back to Etzion. I remained in the jeep for another 30 minutes before a soldier came and moved me to another vehicle. They replaced the plastic ties with metal handcuffs, removed the blindfold and shackled my ankles. The vehicle drove for about an hour before it arrived at Ofer prison, near Jerusalem.

 

On arrival at Ofer I was immediately taken to a waiting room in the military court. I was then taken into the military court but there was no lawyer for me. The military judge said that another boy from the camp confessed that I threw stones and told me they were going to hold me in detention. I told the judge to bring that boy so I could challenge him. The judge then adjourned the hearing. He told me to appoint a lawyer. The soldiers then strip-searched me and told me to crouch a couple of times. Then they gave me some prison clothes and took me to Section 13 where I stayed with other prisoners my age.

 

At 8:00 a.m. the following day a soldier told me I had another military court hearing. My parents were not there because they were not informed. A lawyer was there who said he was going to represent me. The lawyer asked the court to release me because I wasn’t assigned a lawyer earlier on and because I did not confess to anything. The hearing was adjourned until Thursday, 5 June 2014. I was then taken back to Ofer prison.

 

On the Thursday, 5 June 2014, I was again taken to the waiting room at the military court where I remained until 5:00 p.m. At around 5:00 p.m. a soldier took me back to the prison cell. About 10 minutes later a soldier came to tell me I was going to be released on bail. I was told my family had to pay NIS 1,500 to have me released. I took a taxi from the prison and arrived home at around 9:00 p.m.