UA - 1/10 : URGENT APPEAL : DCI-Palestine
Incident Night time raid, arrest, ill-treatment of at least 17 children
Location Al Jalazun Refugee Camp (Ramallah), West Bank
Date of incident 11 February 2010
Accusations Throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at Israeli soldiers
Place of detention Ofer Prison, West Bank
UPDATE: 13 March 2010 (see table below)
10 May 2010 Court appearance
11 March 2010 Court appearance
8 March 2010 Children transferred to Rimonim Prison inside Israel
28 February 2010 Court appearance
24 February 2010 Court appearance
Summary of incident
On 11 February 2010, at least 17 children were arrested from the Al Jalazun Refugee Camp in the middle of the night by Israeli soldiers. The children and their families report the use of excessive force during the arrests, and ill-treatment and coercion during subsequent interrogations. The children were interrogated in the absence of a lawyer and family member, and the interrogations were not video recorded. The children are accused of throwing stones, and in some cases, Molotov cocktails at Israeli soldiers in 2009 and 2010. The children are being prosecuted in military courts.
Background information
At around 2:00am, on Thursday, 11 February 2010, Israeli soldiers entered Al Jalazun Refugee Camp near Ramallah, in the West Bank and went from house to house and started rounding up, beating and harassing residents of the Camp. According to information obtained by DCI-Palestine, at least 17 children were arrested and taken away. Reports indicate that the children were first taken to the Israeli settlement of Beit El, and then to Binyamin Police Station and Ofer Interrogation and Detention Centre, near Ramallah.
DCI-Palestine has so far obtained five affidavits from some of the children detained and their parents. The evidence indicates that excessive force was used during the raid and illegal techniques used during the subsequent interrogations.