Palestinian teens still in jail a year on despite no conviction

It has been one year since five teenage Palestinians were kidnapped and imprisoned for alleged stone-throwing, following a settler car accident that took place close to their village of Hares in Salfit district, West Bank.

Ali Shamlawi, Mohammed Kleib, Mohammed Suleiman, Ammar Souf, and Tamer Souf, who were 15-17-years-old at the time of their disappearance between March 15 and 17, 2013, were incarcerated despite there being no hard evidence of a crime or eyewitness accounts that link them to the accident.

Following the car accident, in which the driver’s child was severely injured, local media branded the five teenagers – now known as the Hares Boys – “Arab terrorists”. They are being charged with 20 counts of attempted murder each and face long prison sentences.

The teens “confessed” to stone-throwing under torture, psychological pressure and after spending up to two weeks in solitary confinement. The group were placed in G4S-equipped adult prisons and interrogation centres of Al-Jalame and Megiddo, all located in Israel, in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention

It is feared that a conviction against the Hares Boys will set a precedent in the Israeli military court system, whereby any Palestinian child accused of throwing stones could be sentenced to long years in prison, currently the average sentence is 3-6 months.