Testimony: H.I.S.A.
Name: | H.I.S.A. |
Age: | 16 |
Date: | 10 January 2023 |
Location: | Beit Ummar, West Bank |
Accusation: | Throwing stones |
On 10 January 2023, a 16-year-old minor from Beit Ummar was arrested by Israeli soldiers from home at 3:30 a.m. He reports ill treatment and being denied his basic legal rights under Israeli military law. He was sentenced to 3 months in prison and fined NIS 2,000. He also received a suspended sentence.
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One of the soldiers told me I was under arrest. When I asked why he told me I would find out soon enough. Then he gave my father a document filled out in Hebrew with some details about my arrest. Then he asked to see my identity card and my telephone. He then checked my Facebook account.
The soldiers remained inside our house for about 30 minutes. During this time they searched the house without causing any damage. Then one of the soldiers handcuffed my hands behind my back with metal handcuffs which were painful. When I asked him to loosen them he refused and called me "a son of a whore" in front of my mother. Then he blindfolded me and led me outside on foot for about 50 meters.
Once outside the soldiers struck me on my back with the back of their guns; they wanted me to walk faster but I found it hard because I was blindfolded.
I was taken to the back of a military jeep and the soldiers made me sit on a metal box which I think was full of ammunition. One of the soldiers asked a masked person, who was inside the jeep, whether I was the one they were looking for and he confirmed it. I believe it was a collaborator who informed on me. There is a family in our village known to be collaborating with the authorities; everyone knows it. They own land near the settlement and they sold most of it to settlers.
Inside the jeep the soldiers swore at me some more. One of the soldiers tightened the handcuffs even more and lifted my hands up above my head. It was a painful position. When I tried to put my hands down I was beaten all over my body and I had bruises.
I was taken to the police station in Etzion settlement where I was left in a room until around 7:00 a.m. Then an interrogator came and took me into the interrogation room.
The interrogator did not remove the handcuffs or the blindfold. He started questioning me about my cousin whom they had arrested with me and I told him I did not know him. He swore at me.
He then called a lawyer and handed me the telephone to speak to him. The lawyer told me he was going to contact my parents to tell them where I was. The interrogator was listening on speaker phone and refused to allow me to speak to my father when I told the lawyer I wanted to speak to him. The phone call lasted for less than a minute.
The interrogator did not inform me of my right to silence. He accused me of throwing a Molotov cocktail and pipe bombs at soldiers. He also accused me of taking part in demonstrations over the past three years on the anniversary of Fateh. I denied all the accusations.
Part way through the interrogation the interrogator removed my blindfold and showed me a photograph of the protests and asked me if I was there. I told him I was not. Then he swore at me some more calling me "a fucking terrorist". He had a camera in the room but then he turned it off and kicked me. He threatened to arrest my mother and father and to revoke my father’s work permit. I later found out they had revoked my father’s work permit.
The interrogator then took me outside and pushed me on the ground and started to beat me hard. Another big man came, turned my face down on the ground and sat on my back while the interrogator beat me. This lasted for about 30 minutes. I was in such pain that I confessed to throwing one stone. He continued to beat me until I confessed to throwing 15 stones from a distance of 50 meters. I confessed because I was afraid he would give me an administrative detention order and because I was in pain.
After beating me the interrogator took me to another room and wanted me to repeat my confession. When I refused he started to kick me and then he noticed that the camera was on. He turned it off and continued to kick me all over my body. The interrogation lasted for about four hours. I was not asked to sign any documents.
After the interrogation I was taken to Ofer prison, near Jerusalem. I arrived there at around 4:00 p.m. I was strip searched and then taken into section 13.
Two days later I had a military court hearing. My parents were not there because they were not informed. My detention was extended. I had about eight hearings in all. At the last one, which was on 9 April 2023, I was sentenced in a plea bargain to three months in prison and fined NIS 2,000. I also received an additional six months suspended for two years. I accepted the plea bargain because otherwise I was told I was facing 13 months in prison.
I spent my prison sentence at Ofer where I watched television and exercised. I did not attend any classes because they were below my level. I am now in my last year of high school. I had one family visits and I was allowed to call home for 15 minutes once every two weeks.
I was released at Al-Jib checkpoint on 16 April 2023. My parents were told to wait outside Ofer. I took a taxi and met them at Ofer checkpoint