Testimony - S.S.
Name: | S.S. |
Age: | 15 |
Date of incident: | 14 March 2013 |
Location: | Haris, West Bank |
Accusation: | Throwing stones |
On 14 March 2013, a 15-year-old boy from Haris was arrested by Israeli soldiers after school and accused of throwing stones. He reports being ill-treated and being denied his basic legal rights under Israeli military law. He reports spending 6 days in detention before being released on payment of a bond of NIS 1,000.
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I walked over to the soldier and he asked to see my hands. He looked at my hands, which were clean, and told me to line up with my brother and three cousins who were nearby. Without asking me for my name a soldier told us to follow him but did not say why. I felt that we had been randomly selected for no reason.
Me, my brother and cousins were led to waiting jeeps where my hands were tied behind his back with a single plastic tie and I was blindfolded. We were then driven for about one-and-a-half hours to a military base. On arrival at the base we were placed in separate rooms. Inside the room I remained tied and blindfolded. I was in pain because of the plastic tie. Although I wasn’t able to see I felt my wrists were bleeding, it was very painful. I complained to a soldier and about one hour later my tie was loosened. I remained in the room until around 9:00 p.m. when I was brought food.
After eating I was placed in a military jeep with two other boys and taken to Ari’el settlement. They made me and my cousin sit on the floor of the jeep and they swore at us on the way. A soldier said: 'fuck your mother, fuck your sister’.
On arrival at Ari'el settlement we were handed over to Israeli police and photographed and fingerprinted. We were then driven to Huwwara interrogation centre, near Nablus in the West Bank, where we slept the night. The next morning we were woken at 5:00 a.m.. After breakfast I was handcuffed and taken to Megiddo prison, inside Israel, where I was given a brief medical check.
On Sunday, 17 March 2013, at around 7:00 a.m., we were driven to Salem interrogation centre, in the West Bank. During the trip the air-conditioner was turned on and it was very cold.
On arrival at Salem I was taken for interrogation. The first interrogator asked me whether I threw stones. When I told him I didn’t throw stones he shouted at me and told me I was a liar. He asked me again but this time I didn’t say anything. Thirty minutes later the interrogator asked me to sign a paper which said in Arabic: 'Question: have you thrown stones? Answer: No,’ so I signed the paper. I later saw a lawyer who told me not to worry as there was no evidence against me and I would soon be released. Later that day I was taken to a military court in Salem and my case was adjourned until the following Wednesday. I was then taken back to Megiddo prison, inside Israel.
The following Wednesday I was driven back to the military court at 7:30 a.m. I was made to wait in a very cold room until noon. It was freezing. Nobody from my family came to court. The military judge ordered payment of NIS 1,000 as a bond. I was released later that day and my father told me that he had been waiting at Salem checkpoint all day but I was released at another location. In total I spent six nights in prison and missed my mid-term exams.