How the confession was extracted – transcript of Amiram’s statement about the police interrogation after the confession was taken from him by force: 2015

Question: What do you have to say about the suspicions against you and after consulting with a lawyer?

Answer: First of all, I’m glad you’re giving me a platform to give my side of the event. I want to retract the confession I gave during the Shin Bet interrogation. The confession was extracted from me by force and through aggressive means, and I will elaborate. First, I was arrested violently almost four weeks ago. Although I did not resist, they shackled my hands and feet and laid me down on the floor of a vehicle… Afterwards, they took me into the interrogation facility and interrogated me for hours at a time, day and night. They handcuffed me to a chair by both hands and feet, with my hands behind my back. During the first week, my legs were also shackled. I was deprived of a great deal of sleep. There were times when they interrogated me for almost three days straight. They wouldn’t let me sleep through the night and told me I’d better start talking, because if not, by this time tomorrow I’d definitely start talking. That’s how they kept interrogating me until the following evening.

They gave me two hours of rest and then brought me back in for further interrogation. Four tough and intimidating interrogators entered the room and asked me if I wanted to talk. I maintained my right to remain silent, and an interrogator named William slapped me and said, That’s it, it’s over. You don’t know what a Shin Bet interrogation is. You can’t remain silent and I’d have to start talking. When I continued to remain silent, he wrapped my hands in bandages like bracelets, then handcuffed me with short handcuffs behind my back. He spun me around on the chair and together with another interrogator, forced both my legs under the chair legs and sat me in a position where my back was tilted backwards at a 45-degree angle. I tried several times to straighten up, but they didn’t let me, until after about half a minute, when I simply collapsed backward from exhaustion.

I screamed in pain. My shoulders hurt, my legs, my chest hurt, with especially unbearable, inhuman pain in my lower back. They continued abusing me in this way and ignored my screams. They chatted casually among themselves. From time to time they lifted me up and brought me back down, grabbing me by the shirt. They yelled at me that they were my nightmare and that they would crush my bones. After about twenty minutes I could no longer bear the horrible pain and suffering, and I begged them to stop. I confessed to everything they wanted, all just to end the torment and torture.

Later in the interrogation, when I didn’t give them the answers they wanted, they resumed torturing me on the chair. They used two other methods: they sat me on a chair with my back pressed against a table and my hands cuffed behind my back. They stretched my arms out across the table, which caused severe pain in my shoulder, arms, and elbows. They also made me stand in a position where I had to crouch on the tips of my toes, with my hands cuffed behind my back – a position impossible to maintain for more than half a minute. I kept collapsing onto my back, but they didn’t care and repeatedly forced me back into that position. That was the only reason I agreed to cooperate with them. They raised their hands against me, slapped me, all this after many hours of sleep deprivation and complete isolation from any normal person. All these things caused me to confess to acts I never committed – things I never did – the murder and arson in the village of Duma. I never did those things. I have no connection to them whatsoever. I’ll also add that throughout the rest of the interrogations, they forced me to cooperate while threatening that if I didn’t cooperate in the way they wanted, they would resume the torture.

A brief excerpt from the minor A.’s testimony before the judge describing how his confession was extracted

They tortured me all night. I screamed and cried, and they laughed. I told them: Kill me, just don’t do this to me. ’ I beg you, Your Honor, I can’t take it anymore” (the suspect is crying). Blindfolds, slaps, being forced backward. They stick fingers under my chin and lift it forcibly. My neck hurts and I can’t breathe. They press on my ribs, grab the shoulder muscle, dig their fingers into the muscle. They shake me, scream, curse, and humiliate me. They punch my calves while my back is arched, and that makes the pain worse, until I break and ask, What do you want me to confess to?

Authorization of the Supreme Court that Ben Uliel was subjected to torture. 2022

Judges: Izsak Amit, Yosef Elron, Shaul Shohcat

On 17 December 2015, at 23:40, a “necessity investigation” began, which continued until 7:00 the next morning (hereinafter: the first necessity investigation). During this investigation, “special measures” were applied to the appellant. Shortly after the use of these measures began, the appellant admitted to carrying out the Duma attack. It should be noted that, according to the respondent, the timing chosen for implementing these special measures was based on the results of investigations involving the minor on 15 December 2015 and 16 December 2015, which significantly increased the suspicion of the appellant’s involvement in the attack.

Approximately three hours after the end of the first necessity investigation, the appellant’s interrogation resumed and continued until around 15:00. During this interrogation, the appellant repeated his confession, even though no “special measures” were used. The respondent did not request to admit as evidence the results of this interrogation or those of the first necessity investigation