A 15-year-old boy from Beit Omar was beaten up by Israeli soldiers, arrested, and threatened with sexual assault during interrogation; he was then imprisoned for five months inside Israel.

Name: Ibrahim S.
Age: 15
Date of arrest: 8 November 2007
Location: Beit Omar village, Hebron Governorate
Charge: Stone-throwing

Ibrahim was asleep when Israeli soldiers entered his home at 2.00 am, on 8 November 2007. He was woken up, arrested, blindfolded and his hands were tied behind his back with plastic ties. The soldiers then led Ibrahim outside and put him in the back of a truck. Almost as soon as he sat down, the soldiers took him back out of the truck, untied his blindfold and asked him where one of his friends was living.

“I said I did not know and then four soldiers started beating me with their hands. They slapped me on the face for about a minute and then blindfolded me again and put me on the floor of a vehicle. Then they started beating me again with their hands and feet, whilst pouring cola and spitting on me whilst I was on the floor as we drove along.”

Ibrahim was taken to the illegal Israeli settlement of Karmi Zur, in the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt), about a 15-minute drive away from his home. He was beaten for the duration of the trip. At the settlement, he was made to stand up against a wall with other detainees whilst a soldier placed a gun to his head and another photographed him. Ibrahim was then placed in the back of another truck with other detainees, some of whom had to sit on the floor. They were driven for around 20 minutes to the Israeli interrogation and detention centre at Etzion, near Bethlehem in the oPt.

After a brief medical check, Ibrahim was led outside into a yard, and once again, blindfolded and tied by hand and foot. He was then chained to another detainee for 24 hours. During this period soldiers would come out and get detainees one by one for interrogation. Ibrahim was not given any food but was permitted to go to the toilet where he could also drink.

Interrogation

Ibrahim’s turn for interrogation arrived in the afternoon of the first day. He was led into a shipping container and told to sit on a small stool:

“You are a member of Islamic Jihad and you used to go out with them at night wearing the keffiyah over your face and write graffitis,” said the interrogator.

The interrogator also accused Ibrahim of throwing stones and Molotov cocktails. Ibrahim denied all allegations. He was then led into another room and his blindfold was removed. Ibrahim was able to see two other children and a tall, well-built bald man wearing a t-shirt and army trousers. Ibrahim also saw his interrogator for the first time, but can only recall him being tall and blond. The interrogator told Ibrahim that the other man would beat him if he did not confess.

“That's okay. Let him beat me,” said Ibrahim.

The bald man then started to kick Ibrahim and the other two children on their legs. The man was wearing heavy army boots and kicked him for about five minutes.

After the beating Ibrahim was taken by the bald man to another interrogator named Samir, in a different interrogation room. Samir was alone in the room. He started interrogating Ibrahim about Molotov cocktails, saying:

“You were throwing Molotov cocktails with another person on Route 60 in August.” Ibrahim denied the accusation and then the interrogator said: “If you didn't throw the Molotov cocktails then another person with you did.”

Samir then started asking Ibrahim questions about stone-throwing. Samir accused Ibrahim of throwing stones at the Israeli army when it invaded Beit Omar village on the previous day. Ibrahim denied the accusation. Then, after about two hours of questioning, Samir said to Ibrahim:

“If you don't confess, I will send you to somebody who will sexually abuse you. He has a huge penis.”

Confession

After being threatened with sexual assault, Ibrahim confessed to throwing stones. The interrogator wrote Ibrahim’s confession in Hebrew and he was then led away by a soldier to be photographed and fingerprinted. It was now around sunset and up until this point he had not been given anything to eat.

Ibrahim was transported through the night and much of the next day to Ofer prison, near Ramallah in the oPt. During the course of the following weeks he appeared twice before an Israeli Military Court for no more than a few minutes each time. On advice from his lawyer he pleaded guilty to throwing stones and was sentenced to six months imprisonment and ordered to pay a fine of NIS 1,000 (US$300).

Imprisonment in Israel

Ibrahim was incarcerated in Addamoun prison, near Haifa in Israel. He was released one month early on 8 April 2008, five months after being arrested from his home.

DCI/PS strongly condemns Israeli authorities for their continued use of illegal practices adopted during the arrest, interrogation and detention of Palestinian children as young as 12 years. DCI/PS is particularly appalled that Israeli authorities have threatened a child with sexual assault to elicit a confession. In breach of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UN Convention against Torture, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Fourth Geneva Convention, Ibrahim was arbitrarily arrested, physically and psychologically abused, denied prompt access to a lawyer, coerced into signing a confession written in Hebrew and detained beyond the borders of the oPt, in Israel.

DCI/PS again calls on Israel to immediately abide by its international legal obligations and to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into allegations of abuse and torture of Palestinian child detainees by the Israeli army and police, and to bring those found guilty of such abuse, to justice.