Huwwara North

Huwwara North, Thursday 24.02.05, PMObservers: Galit G., Roni K. (reporting)Guests: Ina and John, members of Amnesty/Norway14:00 – 17:00Summary: Warnings of an unclear nature, behavior of the regular soldiers who are new at the checkpoint (this is their 3rd day), who insist on a thorough inspection of each person who passes through – including women and children and the elderly – which causes severe delays and suffering at the checkpoint.14:00: As soon as we arrived we were informed that there was a "hot warning"; its nature is not clear, as there is no interruption of activity and the traffic seems to be continuous. In addition, the magnomater is broken – another reason, they say, for particularly thorough inspections. What it means is that when men arrive at the inspection station, they have to lift their shirts and expose their bodies, so that the inspector (sometimes a female) will see that they have nothing on them, and this occurs even in the "humanitarian" line, where elderly women actually need to open all of their possessions and stand through lengthy inspections. This whole process slows down the traffic, even though, at this early hour, only a few dozen people arrive at the checkpoint. At this point, in the detention shed there are 6 people; within a few minutes, their number rises to about 25. This number remains the same and, at 16:00, when there are more people, it even rises. Most of the detainees are young men, some of them have permits, but for all of them the average wait is about 2 hours.In the "cell" there is a "wanted" man under detention who, according to the most optimistic estimation, from the DCO representative, has been in there for an hour and a half – he himself says he has been under arrest since the morning. He will continue to stand there at least until 17:00, the end of our shift. As the time goes by, this sight is more and more disturbing – he can't sit down; he stands in one position, while only part of his head is showing through the bars. At a certain point, a relative arrives who asks to bring him food and water, and, when we also ask, the soldiers respond. Aside from this, he is left entirely on his own. During the shift we called the Hotline for the Protection of the Individual, and they referred us to the Humanitarian Hotline. But they said that they cannot be of any assistance until at least 4 hours have passed, which of course was the case, and finally we spoke to Ra'ad, who said that this whole topic is not within his jurisdiction (more about this later).15:00: We try to estimate the number of people at the checkpoint (in astonishment that things are so difficult), and come up with the number of about 200. Meanwhile, we notice an elderly man, who is standing right next to the detention shed, though he was sent in, and he seems rather confused. It turns out that the man, a resident of East Jerusalem, arrived in the morning for the funeral of the head of his company, in Nablus; he was allowed to enter, but now he is detained because "he doesn't have the proper documents". The dignified appearance of the man did have an effect and, after a short discussion with A., the DCO representative, which included some "educational" words which were supposed to discourage him from ever visiting Nablus again, he was released. (It is hard to believe that he would want to return; as I said, he seems totally shocked by the whole situation at the checkpoint). This man, by the way, is the only detainee who was released through the intervention of the DCO representative, A. – the rest continued to wait. A. himself is new at Huwwara (not new to the army); he is friendly but, at this point at least, not really effective.15:25: Loud voices of "Irge, Irge" are heard from the direction of the "Humanitarian line" (which deserves a separate description). Sergeant M. is in charge of this line and, the way he manages things, the quotation marks are definitelly appropriate. Sergeant M. sends elderly women, 70 years old or more, to the end of the line, which gets longer and longer, because they "stole places in line". He opens their bags and pocketbooks, and, because of his "thoroughness", there is a lot of pressure and tension here. The average waiting time in this line is about half an hour, a bit less for someone who is the European representative of an international organization, and there were several of these.15:45: Sounds of anger come out of the "Humanitarian line" – things are almost becoming violent. The commander, B., in preparation for the end of his shift, finally realizes that the young sergeant is the problem, and moves him over to the other side, the area of the detention shed. In his place, A., fromt the military police, comes over to take charge; but her behavior is not much different. At the same time, many of the detainees are released at once, though others take their place quickly.16:00: B. and most of the soldiers finish their shift. Before he goes, the soldiers tell us that another warning had been received. Now several of the inspection stations are not manned, and the one for women is abandoned. All of this while many people are arriving at the checkpoint, and the usual sight repeats itself: lots of people crowded into long lines in the area of the turnstiles. Then Ofra and Nili arrive from the empty southern checkpoint, and, with the look of people who understand immediately the scene in front of their eyes (while we were obsessed with the details), they are shocked by the number of people, the behavior towards them, the confusion...16:30: An elderly woman, who could hardly walk and couldn't bear standing in the women's line any longer, left it and sat down on her bags, next to the shed. Sergeant M. wanted to send her back to the line, but this time, after a rather fierce argument, we saved her from the absurd situation.17:00: We leave, first reporting to Ra'ad about what was going on, and remind him about the "wanted" man who is still waiting. Today, Shabbat, Galit called the Humanitarian Hotline, to find out what happened to the "wanted" man. After a long series of conversations, it turned out that the man (whose personals details we recorded) is now being held prisoner in the company and, up until now, no one from his family has inquired after him.