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Home » Children »

Testimony: A.A.A.Z.

 

Name:  A.A.A.Z.
Age:  13
Date:  14 April 2018
Location:

 Al Mazrra' ash Sharqiya, West Bank

Accusation:  Throwing stones
 
On 14 April 2018, a 13-year-old minor from Al Mazrra' ash Sharqiya was detained by Israeli soldiers at 9:00 p.m. near Route 60 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 the following day. 
 
I went with five friends to the fields near Route 60 when suddenly we were ambushed by a group of soldiers. It was around 9:00 p.m. I tried to run away but I could not run fast enough and the soldiers caught me. 
 
The soldiers kicked me on the legs, pushed me down to the ground and tied my hands behind my back with one plastic tie. The tie was not painful. They also blindfolded me and pushed me into the back of a jeep which was waiting nearby on a dirt road. Inside the jeep I sat on a seat and the jeep drove to the nearby settlement of Eli.
 
At the settlement I was put in a shipping container where I sat on a chair. I slept for about an hour and then a soldier woke me up and asked me why I throw stones at soldiers. He also wanted to know the names of the other boys. I told him I did not know their names. He did not inform me of any rights and questioned me for about 10 minutes. While waiting in the container some soldiers swore at me.
 
At around midnight I was taken back to the jeep and driven to the police station in Binyamin settlement. At Binyamin I waited in a room and then a policeman took me to the interrogation room. The policeman removed my blindfold but kept me tied. He did not inform me of my rights and immediately asked me why I threw stones at soldiers. I denied the accusation. He questioned me for about 10 minutes. He remained calm. Then I was taken back to Eli where I waited in a room and then I was taken back to Binyamin.
 
I waited in a room at Binyamin until around 2:00 p.m. when a policeman took me back to an interrogation room. He told me I had the right to consult with a lawyer but did not say anything about the right to silence. Then he wanted to know why I threw stones at soldiers on Route 60. He wanted to know what good it does me to throw stones at Jews and accused me of hating Jews. He also wanted me to give him the names of boys who throw stones at soldiers.
 
Towards the end of the interrogation the interrogator showed me a document written in both Hebrew and Arabic about my right to consult a lawyer and other things.  He asked me to sign it and I did. Then he threatened me that if I ever throw stones again he was going to lock me up in prison for a long time. The interrogation lasted about 30 minutes.
 
After the interrogation I was photographed and fingerprinted. Then I was searched with my clothes on and taken to a cell at Binyamin where they removed my hand ties.  They brought me some food but I could not eat it because it was unappetising. I remained in the cell for about three hours.
 
After about three hours I was taken to a jeep and driven to the police station in Beit El settlement. At Beit El I was handed over to the Palestinian police and the Palestinian police contacted my father who picked me up from the Palestinian police station in Ramallah.
 
I later found out that the interrogator wanted my father to pay a fine before he released me but my father refused to pay. This was around 6:00 p.m. When my father refused to pay they told him they were going to keep me. But at around 11:00 p.m. my father received a phone call from the Palestinian police who told him I had been released. I was released on 15 May 2018.