Israeli forces detain Palestinian child at night, beat him during interrogation

A Palestinian child was detained at night by Israeli occupation forces, beaten during interrogation, and signed Hebrew documents without understanding their contents.

The incident which took place earlier this month but was brought to light this week by DCI-Palestine, a national section of Defence for Children International.

14-year-old Amir Othman Darwish was woken at around 3.30am on 2 January by “at least a dozen Israeli paramilitary border police officers in his bedroom.” He was handcuffed and taken to a detention and interrogation centre, “without being informed of the charges against him.”

Upon arrival, Amir “was forced to kneel on the ground with his hands bound behind his back for approximately two hours before he was allowed to meet briefly with an attorney.” However, the teenager was interrogated “without the presence of an attorney or legal guardian.”

Amir told DCI-Palestine that the Israeli interrogator accused him of throwing stones at soldier, which he denied, only for the officer to “suddenly…[start] slapping me very hard, punching me, and kicking me all over my body.” Amir added: “Whenever I denied it, he would beat me harder.”

The interrogator also pushed Amir against the wall and banged his head. “He would shout loudly, swear, and say dirty things about my mother. He even threatened to prevent my father from working.”

According to DCI-Palestine, “after several hours of interrogation, Amir signed documents in Hebrew, a language he cannot read or understand. Amir was then strip-searched and examined by a medic, but did not receive any medical treatment while in custody.”

Amir was released into his father’s custody around noon, “on the condition that he was not to see another Palestinian teenager, who was arrested the same night, for a period of 30 days.”

Explaining the context, DCI-Palestine notes that “children in East Jerusalem are generally subject to the Israeli Youth Law, which theoretically applies equally to Palestinian and Israeli children.”

“However, documentation collected by DCIP shows Israeli authorities implement the law in a discriminatory manner, denying Palestinian children in East Jerusalem of their rights from the moment of arrest to the end of legal proceedings.”

Ayed Abu Eqtaish, Accountability Program director at DCIP, said: “Palestinian children are regularly subjected to coercive and violent interrogation techniques intended to extract confessions.”

“In recent years, Israeli lawmakers have pushed forward a slew of harsh policies that target Palestinian youth in East Jerusalem, prioritizing criminalization and punishment over rehabilitation and reintegration in complete disregard of international law.”