A 14-year-old boy from Biddu was beaten up by Israeli soldiers, arrested and imprisoned for four and a half months in Israel for allegedly throwing stones at the Wall

Name: Mohammad A. E.
Age: 14
Date of incident: 4 February 2008
Location: Village of Biddu, near Ramallah
Accusation: Throwing stones

Mohammad’s village of Biddu is situated north west of Jerusalem in the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt). The village is hemmed in by two illegal Israeli settlements, Giv’on Hahadasha to the north east, and HarAdar to the west. The village is surrounded on three sides by the Wall, which passes close to Mohammad’s home on Palestinian land.

On 4 February, 2008 Mohammad and a few friends were gathered on a hill near the village watching as some young people threw stones at the Wall. Mohammad and his friends were suddenly approached by four men dressed in civilian clothes. The men grabbed Mohammad knocking him to the ground. A frightened Mohammad tried to resist and was struck several times on the head with a gun whilst his face was sprayed with tear gas. The men then blindfolded him and tied his hands and feet with plastic cuffs before throwing him into the back of a vehicle.

After two hours they arrived at the Israeli operated police and interrogation centre at Atarot, near Ramallah, in the oPt. Throughout the journey Mohammad’s head was bleeding from wounds sustained when he was struck with the gun.

Interrogation

At the interrogation centre, Mohammad was instructed to wash the blood off his face. He was given a piece of dry bread and allowed to use the toilet before being led to an interrogation room.

Mohammad was interrogated for around an hour by a sole interrogator without a lawyer or family member being present. The interrogator repeatedly accused him of throwing stones at the Wall, which Mohammad denied. The interrogator told Mohammad that if he did not confess he would be taken immediately to a military court for sentencing. At one point during the interrogation Mohammed told his interrogator that he had a headache, but he was not offered any medical assistance until the end of the interrogation.

After approximately one hour, Mohammad was handed a piece of paper written in Hebrew. The interrogator told Mohammad that if he signed the paper he would be released and that it was simply an acknowledgement that if he was caught throwing stones in the future he would be arrested and sentenced. Believing what he was told, Mohammad signed the piece of paper. He was immediately informed that he had just signed a confession and would be sent to prison. Mohammad was shocked when he realised how he had been misled.

At around 11.00 pm Muhammad started to feel sick from the blows he had received to his head and fainted. He woke up in Haddasah hospital where he stayed for several hours before being taken out, at around 2.00 am, and placed in an Israeli military vehicle which drove him to Ofer prison. Mohammad was kept in the military vehicle outside the prison, still blindfolded with his hands and feet tied until 7.00 am when the gates were opened. Whenever Mohammad tried to fall asleep, he was beaten by the Israeli soldiers in the vehicle. Over the course of the night Mohammad was not given any food or toilet breaks.

Imprisonment

During the course of the following weeks, Mohammad appeared before an Israeli Military Court three times and was sentenced to four-and-a-half months’ imprisonment. The first time Mohammad was permitted to see a lawyer was five minutes before his case was heard by a military judge. During the entire time of his imprisonment, Mohammad’s family were not permitted to see him and this was the first time in his life he had slept outside the home.

Mohammad was released from Addamoun prison in Israel on 5 June 2008, and a DCI/PS lawyer met with him on7 June.

DCI/PS strongly condemns Israeli authorities for their continued use of illegal practices adopted during the arrest and interrogation of Palestinian children. 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, Mohammad was arbitrarily arrested, physically abused, denied prompt access to medical care and a lawyer, whilst also being prevented from receiving visits from his family.

DCI/PS again calls on Israel to immediately abide by its international legal obligations.