Israel detains 17 year old Palestinian boy, soldier burns him with cigarette

DCI-Palestine- Imad al-Ashhab (17) has been held for over 10 months without charge or trial. On 4 February 2011, he will either be released, or given a fifth administrative detention order.

Imad Mohammad al-Ashhab
Event: Administrative Detention
Place of residence: Hebron, Occupied Palestinian Territory
Date of arrest: 21 February 2010
Charge: No charge
Place of detention: Ofer Prison, Occupied Palestinian Territory
Date of issue: 4 January 2011

Background information

At around 7:30am, on 21 February 2010, 17-year-old Imad was travelling to work with his father in the occupied West Bank. Father and son had to pass through an Israeli army checkpoint like every morning. „When we reached the container checkpoint,‟ recalls Imad, „soldiers would usually examine our permits.‟ However, on this morning, two soldiers grabbed Imad and dragged him into a small room. „What did he do?‟ shouted Imad‟s father, but there was no response. After being thoroughly searched, Imad reports that his hands were handcuffed behind his back and his feet were shackled. „They also placed a black mask over my face and it smelled like urine,‟ recalls Imad. „The smell was very strong and I told one of the soldiers but he didn‟t take it off, but said, “shut-up, or I‟ll hit you.”‟ Imad reports that he was held in the small room for around six hours during which time he was not given anything to eat or drink, and was prevented from using the toilet.

Later that afternoon, Imad was placed in the back of a military jeep.  "The jeep travelled for a long time,‟ recalls Imad. "I was alone with the soldiers. One of them hit me on the legs with a stick and he also slapped me across the face. My hands and feet were still handcuffed and I had the smelly mask around my face. 'Do you smoke?' the soldiers asked me. 'No I don‟t,' I said. Then I heard him lighting a cigarette and he burned my right hand with the cigarette, which made me feel great pain."

Imad also reports being slapped while in the back of the jeep and hitting his head on the roof several times when the vehicle went over a bump. Sometime that evening the jeep arrived at an unknown location and Imad was interrogated for about 15 minutes while still handcuffed, shackled and blindfolded. Following the interrogation, Imad reports being taken outside, still blindfolded, and ordered to walk back and forth, causing him to walk into the side of a vehicle and bump his head four times. Imad was then placed in a jeep and transferred to another unknown location where he was given a brief medical examination. Imad informed the person he assumed to be a doctor that he had been burned with a cigarette, but he received no treatment. Read more