DCI: A Child Held in Solitary Confinement

Name: Rami J.
Date of arrest:  24 October 2011
Age: 17
Location: Haris village, occupied West Bank
Accusation: Throwing stones and Molotov cocktails

On 24 October 2011, a 17-year-old boy from Haris village, in the occupied West Bank, is arrested by Israeli soldiers at 2:00 am and taken to Al Jalame interrogation centre, inside Israel. He is held in solitary confinement for 24 days.

“At around 2:00 am, I was sleeping when I woke up to banging on the door: ‘Open up, it’s the IDF.’ I opened the door and soldiers pointed their rifles at me, ordering me to step aside and they stormed the house,” recalls 17-year-old Rami. The soldiers ordered the family to gather in one room while they searched the house.

Around half-an-hour later an intelligence officer arrived and asked to see the family’s ID cards. When the officer looked at Rami’s ID card he simply said “we’re taking you with us.” Rami’s hands were then tied behind his back with three sets of plastic ties and he was blindfolded. Rami was then led out of the house to a military vehicle which was parked approximately 600 metres away. “Two of the soldiers grabbed me and pushed me hard inside one of the jeeps and I fell on the metal floor,” recalls Rami. “The soldiers kept me lying on my back on the metal floor of the jeep, with my hands tied behind my back and my eyes blindfolded for about two hours. I was kept tied and blindfolded for at least 18 hours, during which time I was never provided with any food or water, and they never allowed me to use the bathroom,” says Rami. Whilst on the floor Rami says that soldiers pushed him about with their boots. “Whenever I felt pain they would laugh loudly and insult me.”

The jeep travelled for around two hours and then stopped. Rami was pulled out and asked some questions about his health. His hand ties and blindfold were briefly removed so that he could sign a medical form. He was then re-tied and blindfolded and taken back to the jeep and put on the metal floor. Rami reports that the jeep then travelled to several more locations. At one location he was taken out and made to sit on the ground for about one-and-a-half hours. He says that it was cold and he was shivering. At around 5:00 pm, the jeep arrived at Huwwara interrogation centre, near Nablus, in the West Bank. Rami reports being made to sit on the ground for another hour, still tied and blindfolded. Later on that evening, Rami was transferred to Al Jalame interrogation centre, inside Israel. The removal of Rami out of the occupied West Bank to an interrogation centre inside Israel, violates Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits such transfers.

On arrival at Al Jalame, Rami was strip searched and taken for interrogation. “There was a low metal chair tied to the floor in the middle of the room,” recalls Rami. “A jailer forced me to sit in the chair and tied my hands to it. After that an interrogator came into the room and introduced himself as Assaf. He said he would interrogate me and hoped that I would cooperate with him. ‘I’m very hungry because I haven’t had any food,’ I said. The interrogator brought me a piece of bread and a small piece of cheese and a glass of water. He untied me so I could eat. ‘I want you to tell me what you did,’ Assaf said before I started eating. ‘I didn’t do anything,’ I said. ‘Liar,’ he shouted. ‘Put down the bread,’ he shouted and took it away. He did not give me the glass of water. He even re-tied my hands to the back of the chair,” says Rami. The interrogation lasted about an hour during which time Assaf kept shouting and threatening to hit Rami, “but I did not tell him anything.”

“About an hour later, I was detained in Cell No. 36. It is a very small cell, which had a matress on the floor and toilet with a horrible smell, as well as two concrete chairs. The lights in the ceiling were dim yellow and on 24 hours, and they hurt my eyes. The walls were gray and had a rough surface. The cell did not have windows, just two gaps for letting air in and out. The food was served though a flap in the door.” Rami reports that he was held in solitary confinement in Cell No. 36, and a similar cell (Cell No. 1) for a total of 24 days.

“During my detention in Al Jalame I knocked on the door of my cell and asked for more bread because the bread they gave me was not enough. An old jailer immediately opened the door and started shouting. He approached me and put his arm around my neck and started choking me, saying: ‘I’ve worked here for a long time and no one has ever knocked on the door. If you ever do that again, I’ll wring your neck.’ The following day, the same jailer brought me a bucket of water and ordered me to clean up the cell. I did what he asked. When I finished cleaning, I put the empty bucket near the door. He opened the door and kicked it away. He shouted at me and ordered me to bring it back to him. He wanted to humiliate me. I refused to do it, so he came in and stepped on my right foot with his boot – I was barefooted. I felt a lot of pain and my foot was swollen for three days […] I wrote a complaint but I don’t know what happened to it.”

“During my detention in Al Jalame, another interrogator named Amos also interrogated me. He and Assaf interrogated me everyday for about nine hours, except on Fridays and Saturdays. They accused me of throwing stones and Molotov cocktails. I denied it. They said I was a liar and said that a man from my village had said in a statement that I had thrown stones and Molotov cocktails with him […] Eventually a list of charges was made against me that included throwing stones. I had to confess to throwing stones because of the painful interrogation and the harsh conditions of my detention.”

After approximately one month in Al Jalame, Rami was transferred to Megiddo, another prison also situated inside Israel.

Source: Defence of Children International-Palestine Section