On 14 April 2019, the family of a 17-year-old minor was served with a summons during a military raid on their home at 2:30 a.m. for the minor to attend an interrogation. He reports consulting with a lawyer prior to interrogation but not being informed of his right to silence by the interrogator. He was released without charge the next day.

Israeli soldiers raided our home at around 2:30 a.m. I was already awake because I knew they were conducting military activities in our village. When I noticed soldiers in the neighbourhood I ran away. Shortly afterwards my father phoned me and I told him I was in Ramallah and could not come home. The commander told my father to bring me to Etzion police station later that morning and gave my father a summons.

Later that morning I went with my father to the police station in Etzion settlement as requested. We arrived by 10:00 a.m. A soldier took the summons, took me inside and told my father to go home. I was immediately taken for interrogation.

As soon as I entered the interrogation room I asked to speak to a lawyer. The interrogator phoned a lawyer for me and put him on loud speaker and allowed me to speak to him. The lawyer told me not to confess to anything I did not do. The interrogator listened to the conversation which lasted less than two minutes.

After speaking to the lawyer the interrogator accused me of throwing stones and a Molotov cocktail on Route 60. I denied the accusation. The interrogator did not inform me of my right to silence.

The interrogator claimed that my friends had confessed against me. I told him I did not have any friends. Then he handed me a charge sheet which he took about two hours to type while I waited in his room. The charge sheet included throwing stones at settler cars and injuring a settler child. It also included throwing a Molotov cocktail. When I denied the accusations the interrogator lost his temper and started to shout at me. He picked up the voice recorder which was on his desk and hit me with it on the chest.

He told me again my friends had confessed against me and told me if I confessed he was going to send me home. I did not believe him and I continued to deny the accusations. Then he showed me documents in Hebrew and asked me to sign them but I refused to sign. The interrogation lasted about six hours. During this time the interrogator left the room and came back and took a long time to type the charge sheet.

Also during this time two other interrogators questioned me about the same accusations without informing me of my rights. The second interrogator questioned me about a person from my village and he named him for me. I told him I did not know that person. Then I was taken to see a third interrogator.

The third interrogator was aggressive and agitated. He did not inform me of my rights but I thought the best way to handle his anger was to remain silent. He questioned me for about an hour about the same accusations and I did not say much. He spoke to me in a loud voice intended to intimidate and frighten me. I did not confess. Then he showed me documents in Hebrew and asked me to sign them but again I refused to sign.

After the third interrogator was finished he took my fingerprints and photograph. Then he tied my hands to the front with one plastic tie which was very tight and painful. I could not stand it and managed to snap the tie. I was also blindfolded and taken to a cell where they removed the blindfold. I was strip searched and I remained there until around 8:00 p.m.

During this time I felt a strong need to smoke a cigarette because I am a smoker. I banged the door begging the soldiers for a cigarette but they did not respond. In the end they got fed up with me and moved me to a cell by myself where I remained for about two hours. The cell was small, about 2x2 meters with a very small window high up. Then I was transferred to Ofer prison, near Jerusalem. At Ofer I was strip searched again before being taken to Section 13.

The following day I was taken to Ofer military court. I was not taken into the court room and I was told I was going to be released. I was taken back to Ofer and the guard woke me up late at night and told me I was going to be released. I was released just before midnight on 15 April 2019. I was released without charge and I went home with my father.