Testimony: Q.N.R.T.
| Name: | Q.N.R.T. |
| Age: | 13 |
| Date of incident: | 12 December 2016 |
| Location: | Beit Fajjar, West Bank |
| Accusation: | Shooting |
On 12 December 2016, a 13-year-old boy from Beit Fajjar is arrested by Israeli soldiers at 2:30 a.m. and accused of participating in a shooting at a nearby settlement. He is released without charge 12 hours later.
I woke up at around 2:30 a.m. when I heard banging at our front door. My father answered the door and Israeli soldiers entered our home. The soldiers told my father to bring everyone to the living room. The soldiers told my father they wanted to arrest me. They did not give us any written documents and did not tell us where they were taking me or what I was accused of.
The soldiers allowed me to use the toilet and to get dressed. I said good-bye to my family and the soldiers took me away. They walked me a short distance then asked me to lift my hands up against a wall. I was then blindfolded and my hands were tied to the front with three plastic ties: one on each wrist and another one connecting the two. The ties were not tight.
After I was tied I was put in the back of a jeep where I sat on a seat. A soldier then removed the blindfold and took a picture of me after he aimed a bright light in my face.
The jeep drove for about 15 minutes to Etzion settlement where I waited by the front gate for about 10 minutes. After 10 minutes the soldiers put me back in the jeep. The jeep drove for another 30 minutes to the settlement of Kiryat Arba where I was taken to a room and I sat on a chair.
About 15 minutes later some soldiers took me to a dark room where I sat on a chair until around 6:00 a.m. I did not sleep. At around 6:00 a.m. I was taken for interrogation.
The interrogator was an older guy. He did not inform me of any rights. He removed the blindfold but kept me tied. He showed me video footage of people shooting at the settlement gate and accused me of being among them. I denied the accusation and told him I wasn’t with them and drew his attention to the fact that the people in the footage were older people. Then he told me this was proof that I knew who they were, because how else would I known they were older people. I told him the footage showed they were older people.
He interrogated me for about 15 minutes and wanted me to tell him who the people in the video were. I told him I did not know them. Then he took me to another interrogator.
The second interrogator blindfolded me, turned the lights off and shut the door. He told me it seemed to him the first interrogator was lenient and said that he was going to interrogate me harshly until I confessed. He held me by the neck and chest and told me if I did not confess he was going to "open up your ass because you're a fucking idiot". I was terrified. Then he told me if I did not confess he was going to lock me up in prison for a long time.
Then the first interrogator came in and turned the lights on and removed the blindfold and the ties and told me I was accused of owning firearms. I denied the accusation. Then he asked me about the older people in the village who were members of Hamas and wanted to know who had weapons. I told him I did not know. He accused me of lying and of throwing Molotovs and stones at soldiers. I denied the accusation. The two interrogators interrogated me for about 90 minutes.
Then he asked me for my father’s number and he called him and told him to come to Kiryat Arba with 1,000 shekels to bail me out. I was then taken to a courtyard where I was tied again and made me sit on a chair.
My father arrived at around 2:00 p.m. and he had to sign a document saying he would have to pay 1,000 shekels if I was arrested again or did something wrong. I returned home with my father and we arrived home at around 3:00 p.m.
