Kalandiya roadblock. Tensions rise
Photo: Reuters
Troops who abused Palestinians indicted
Military Prosecutor's Office charges two soldiers with abuse, after they violently assaulted handcuffed detainees at roadblock
The Military Prosecutor's Office indicted Monday two soldiers of the engineering Corps over charges of abusing three Palestinian detainees at the Kalandiya roadblock near Jerusalem.
According to the indictment, one of the soldiers hit the detainees for no apparent reason and without provocation, and when his guard duty was over, a fellow soldier who came to replace him continued to strike the prisoners.
The indictment revealed that on June this year, one of the soldiers arrived at the booth in which the detainees were held handcuffed. He asked his friend, who was guarding the Palestinians to replace him, and once left alone with the detainees he yelled at them "I came here to murder you."
The troop beat one of the prisoners in the head with his rifle, and then went on to punch, kick and slap him. The two other men were also assaulted by the soldier.
The beating was temporarily suspended when a police officer passed through the roadblock and witnessed the incident.
Several minutes later, another troop from the same battalion arrived to take over the guard duty for his friend. The soldier apparently decided to take over the violent attack as well, and battered the three detainees with kicks and punches.
Notably, the soldier in question has a record of a prior offence of assaulting a Palestinian.
The soldiers' trial is expected to open in the coming days. The men were not arrested and returned to army service once the IDF Police Investigation Unit completed its investigation into the matter.
The IDF has invested great efforts in the last years in promoting educational activities among soldiers in an effort to regulate rules of behavior toward detainees at roadblocks, follwoing repeated incidents where tensions flared at checkpoints.
