On 20 February 2014, a 14-year-old minor from Birqin was arrested by Israeli soldiers at noon during clashes and accused of throwing stones and Molotov cocktails. He reports ill treatment and being denied his basic rights under Israeli military law. He reports being sentenced to 3 months in prison and fined NIS 2000. He also received a 6 month suspended sentence.

I was arrested near Al-Jalameh checkpoint, about three kilometers away from my village in the north of the West Bank. On the day of my arrest there were clashes near the checkpoint and my friend and I went to see what was going on at around 12:00 noon. Israeli soldiers started to chase the crowd at one point my friend and I started to run away from the area. Three soldiers chased us and caught me about 200 meters away.

 

The soldiers immediately tied my hands to the back with one plastic tie, which was very painful. They also blindfolded me and took me towards the military watchtower near the checkpoint. When we got to the watchtower I was made to sit on the ground for about two hours. After about two hours I was put in the back of a military jeep and made to sit on some metal boxes. It was a very uncomfortable position and I was in pain. The jeep drove away and one of the soldiers slapped me all over my body. It wasn’t too hard.

 

The jeep drove for about 40 minutes before stopping at Salem military base. Soldiers took me out of the jeep and made me sit on a bench in the courtyard for about 30 minutes. I was still tied and blindfolded. I was then taken to a room where I sat on a bench until around 4:00 p.m. when an interrogator wearing police uniform took me for interrogation.

 

The interrogator made me sit opposite him on a chair. He removed the blindfold but kept me tied. He asked me for my name and age but I told him I wasn’t going to answer any question without a lawyer present. He told me no lawyers are available before the interrogation and that I could see a lawyer once the interrogation is over. He did not say anything about a right to silence.

 

He then told me I was accused of throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at soldiers. I denied the accusation and told him I didn’t throw anything at soldiers. The interrogator wanted to know what I was doing near the checkpoint if I wasn’t throwing stones. I told him I was at the park near the checkpoint. The interrogation lasted for about five hours. During this time the interrogator left the room and came back a number of times. Towards the end of the interrogation he told me he had pictures of me throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at soldiers. I told him this couldn’t be true and challenged him to show me the pictures. He never showed me any pictures. Then he told me soldiers saw me throwing Molotov cocktails. I asked him to bring those soldiers to confront me but he never did. He told me I would have a chance to confront the soldiers in court.

 

At the end of the interrogation he printed out a document in Hebrew and asked me to sign it but I refused. He told me it was exactly what I had told him. When I insisted I didn’t want to sign it he held me forcefully by my neck and pressed me hard. I got scared and decided to sign the paper.

 

After the interrogation I was photographed and fingerprinted. A soldier replaced the plastic tie with metal handcuffs and put me in the back of a vehicle. The vehicle drove for about 30 minutes before stopping. I then realised I was at Megiddo prison, inside Israel. I was given a security search in my underwear and then taken to a prison cell where I stayed with other prisoners my age.

 

I was arrested on a Thursday. On Friday morning I was told I had a court hearing at Ofer military court. I was shackled and handcuffed and taken in a vehicle to Ofer. It took nearly two hours to get there. When I asked why I wasn’t taken to Salem military court I was told it was because Salem court is not open on Fridays. There was no lawyer to represent me in court and my parents did not attend because they were not informed about the hearing. My detention was extended for another week.

 

My next military court hearing was at Salem. My parents were there with a lawyer. I had four other court hearings, all at Salem. About one month after my arrest I was sentenced to three months in prison and fined NIS 2,000. I was also given a six-month suspended sentence. My lawyer tried to appeal the decision but his request was rejected.

 

In prison I was allowed to study Arabic and mathematics. I was released on 9 May 2014. My parents picked me up from Salem checkpoint and took me home.