HUWWARA, Thursday 29 April 2004 PMObservers: Nura and Sheli colour =red>14:25 — There were about 50 people waiting in line on the southern side, and some 20 detainees off to one side. One of the detainees was apparently dehydrated. The soldier checked his pulse and scolded his friends for pouring water on his head. He then decided that the detainee was not suffering from sunstroke and sent him back into the sun. Some of the detainees had been standing there from 10:00 and 11:00 and two from Nablus said they’d been there since 07:00 One was afraid his ID card had been lost and asked me to check with the soldiers.Meanwhile, at the checkpoint, someone was pleading with the soldier not to detain him, saying he had gone through this way this morning, but the soldier shouted at him and told him to go down into the sunken area where the detainees wait [for the return of their ID cards which are checked against a central list of suspected persons compiled and held by Israel’s general security services, the Shin Bet] Next in line was a doctor. The soldier asked him what his speciality was. He also claimed that the detainees had only just arrived.14: 45 — I talked to R. from the army “humanitarian” hotline who said he would try to find out why the ID check was taking so long. Meanwhile a soldier showed me the ID card of the young man who feared it had been lost. I wanted to go down to the detainees to tell him, but another soldier forbade me (he wanted me to shout out to him). I went all the same and in response the soldier closed the checkpoint for 25 minutes. Later the soldiers handcuffed one of the detainees and made him sit in the concrete pill-box , because he had shouted that it was time to release them.Meanwhile, on the northern side…15:02 — There were about 70 people in line, eight cars, five taxis confiscated on one side and about 12 detainees who said they’d been here between an hour-and-a-half and five hours. I talked to them. One was very angry and tense. He had an eye problem, but, as far as I could understand, the note he was carrying was only a spectacles prescription and I had no idea how to help him get through quicker. The number of those in line had grown to close on 100.A family tried to go through at the side and a soldier drove them away. They had a two-day-old baby and the woman had been delivered by Caesarian section. I appeal to the soldier but he wouldn’t change his mind, and insisted they must go through the line. Someone offered them a lift and another soldier eventually agreed to let husband, wife and baby through in a car — but not the wife’s mother and sister. A captain from the District Coordinating Office (DCO) [the army section that looks after civilian matters] arrived, didn’t talk to the soldiers, but was busy checking ID cards, and taking a long time over it. There were more than 100 waiting.D. from Aqraba was here with his niece. A week ago she dropped her passport, one of the children working at the checkpoint found it and gave it to a soldier. On Sunday D. came to the checkpoint to look for it and was told to come back today. Today, a soldier told him that he had the passport and now the niece must come so that they could verify that the passport is indeed hers. D. brought his niece and now he was told to come tomorrow. (D. came the next day, Friday. The DCO was closed and he was told to return on Sunday. I contacted the DCO and talked to E., who said he’d try to find out and then he too said that D. must return on Sunday. On Saturday D. returned and was given back the passport at 09:15 )16:15 — There were still over 100 waiting on the northern side. The soldiers were not checking, just busying themselves with keeping order. The captain arrived again. I approached him and asked that they continue to check. He said OK, but did nothing. In the next hour-and-a-half the soldiers let almost nobody through : they just spent time keeping order. They argued among themselves whether to go on letting people through or insist that they stay back. One of them (R.) said explicitly that his tough stance wasnot for any particular reason — just because! Another soldier (A.) threatened to hit someone over the head with his rifle. R. threatened to tear up ID cards and leant on the women’s line till they were crushed. Several women and children started crying. I appealed to the officer and he said OK again and still did nothing. When I appealed yet again, he said the Palestinians were to blame for the situation because they would not stand where they were supposed to. Among the detainees was someone carrying insulin (which has to be kept chilled) for his mother. The detainees needed to go to the toilet, to eat and to drink and were worried about wives and children waiting at home. I called R. again. The only soldier letting people through was A. Meanwhile there were now about 200 waiting, and three ambulances held up in the vehicle line.17:40 — A more senior DCO officer arrived, a major. By 18:07 several dozen had gone through. After he left, there was again only one soldier checking. I called the hotline twice more.18:50 — Now three soldiers were checking.19:00 — The soldiers combined the two sides of the checkpoint. Someone from Beit Furik, coming from the other side, tried to exploit the opportunity to go through without a check The soldiers detained him, took him to one side, tied his hands and blindfolded him (R. and J., from [the civil rights group] the Centre for the Protection of the Rights of the Individual, continued to deal with the case. He was released at 20:45 and waited till 21:30; but by then his ID card had gone missing. On Friday, at 15:45 it was given back to him, thanks to N. from the “humanitarian” hotline).19:14 — Nine detainees were released. The one with eye problems took his card and returned to the sunken area to fetch his bag. When he came up again, the soldier thought that he had had his ID card all the time and that it hadn’t been checked, so he confiscated it in order to start the check over again. I talked to the checkpoint commander (a staff-sergeant) who said that if there was any suspicion, even the slightest, that the card hadn’t been checked, then it had to be checked again.