Testimony: M.M.N.
Name: | M.M.N. |
Age: | 16 |
Date of incident: | 19 January 2015 |
Location: | At Tabaqa, West Bank |
Accusation: | Throwing stones |
On 19 January 2015, a 16-year-old minor from At Tabaqa was arrested by Israeli soldiers from home at 2.30 a.m. He reports ill treatment and being denied his basic legal rights under Israeli military law. He reports being sentenced to 4 months in prison and fined NIS 2,000. He also received a suspended sentence.
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The soldiers took me to an area not far from our house and slapped me on the neck. They blindfolded me and tied my hands to the front with three plastic ties: one on each wrist and another one connecting the two. The ties were painful. I was taken to the back of a jeep where I sat on the floor. The jeep drove for about 10 minutes before stopping at a nearby military base.
I was immediately taken to see a doctor. The soldiers removed the blindfold and the doctor examined me and gave me a form to fill out. Then I was put in a shipping container where I was blindfolded again. I slept on a bench until around 7.00 a.m.
I was then taken to the back of a jeep where I sat on the floor. The jeep drove for about an hour before it stopped at the police station in the settlement of Kiryat Arba. The soldiers kicked and slapped me on the way. At Kiryat Arba I was taken to a courtyard where I sat on the ground for about two hours. An interrogator came with a soldier who beat me and stepped on my foot before taking me to an interrogation room.
The interrogator was in civilian clothes. No one else was in the room. He turned on a tape recorder during the interrogation. He removed the ties and the blindfold and started to interrogate me. He accused me of throwing stones at soldiers. Half way through the interrogation he told me I had the right to remain silent and the right to consult with a lawyer. I told him I didn’t want a lawyer. He asked me for my mother’s number. I asked him if I could speak to my mother but he told me he would allow me to speak to her only after I confess. He then called my mother and told her I was at Kiryat Arba and asked her to appoint a lawyer.
The interrogator again accused me of throwing stones at soldiers at an intersection near our village. He then showed me some pictures of boys throwing stones and told me that I was in the picture. I denied this and told him I wasn’t throwing stones. The interrogation lasted for about an hour.
During the interrogation the interrogator banged at the table aggressively and was swearing. He told me I was "a son of a whore" and he said bad things about my religion. He also told me that a boy had confessed against me saying I was throwing stones with him. He mentioned the name of the boy and I told the interrogator I didn’t know him. He threatened to bring that boy to confront me and wondered what I would say. I told him to go ahead and bring that boy and I would say to his face that he was a liar. He never confronted me with the boy. The interrogator allowed me to use the bathroom and to drink water.
He then printed out my statement in Hebrew and asked me to sign it. I asked him to translate it for me and when I found it identical to what I had told him I signed it. I was then photographed and finger printed and taken into a shipping container. I was blindfolded and tied like before.
I sat on a bench until around 6.00 p.m. when I was taken to the back of a jeep where I sat on the floor. The jeep drove for about 30 minutes and stopped at the police station in Etzion settlement At Etzion I was strip searched and taken to a room with other boys. The ties and the blindfold were removed. Soldiers brought me some food and I spent a night at Etzion.
The following morning, at around 9.00 a.m., I was shackled and handcuffed to the front and taken into a troop carrier where I sat on a seat. The carrier drove for about 30 minutes before it stopped at Ofer prison, near Jerusalem, where I was strip searched again before being taken to Section 13.
On Thursday, 22 January 2015, I was taken to Ofer military court. My mother came to Ofer but she never entered the courtroom because they forgot to call her in. A lawyer was in court to defend me. The hearing was adjourned. I had seven other hearings. In the end my lawyer agreed on a plea bargain with the prosecution where I would be sentenced to four months in prison and fined NIS 2,000 in addition to a 6 months suspended sentence valid for 5 years.
I spent three months of my sentence at Ofer but the last month I was transferred to Megiddo prison, inside Israel. While in prison I studied mathematics and Arabic. My family visited me regularly at Ofer but in Megiddo I only had one family visit. I was released on 17 May 2015, at around 3.00 p.m. I was first transferred to Salem checkpoint where my family met me and I went home with them. I arrived home at around 6.00 p.m.