
Mother of Married Avreich Detained on Way to Uman Alleges Harsh Treatment and Denial of Basic Rights
The mother of a married avreich who was arrested at the Taba border crossing while traveling to Uman has accused Israeli military authorities of denying her son and other detained yeshivah bochurim basic rights, including telephone calls, family visits, access to lawyers and proper personal supplies.
Speaking in an interview with Kol Chai’s Central Edition, the mother described the ordeal her family has faced since her son was detained last Thursday and transferred to Military Prison 10. She said the family was never formally notified of his arrest and was forced to determine his whereabouts on its own.
“We live in a democratic country, not a Third World country where people are kidnapped by a military junta in the dead of night. No authorized official informed me that my son had been arrested and was in Prison 10. Because of a phone call his wife received, I was forced to begin tracing his steps and searching for where my son was being held.”
The mother said many of the young men now facing arrest had previously attempted to resolve their military status through official channels, only to encounter repeated bureaucratic obstacles.
“They tried to resolve the matter and leave legally, but all of their requests on the websites were rejected. They sent young men from the Yerushalayim area all the way to recruitment offices in Be’er Sheva or Haifa, and when they arrived, they were told that they were late. Bureaucratic callousness.”
She went on to allege that the treatment of the detainees following their arrests has included the denial of telephone access and personal necessities, along with expedited disciplinary proceedings conducted without legal representation.
“To this day, I have not received even one phone call from him to know that he is under arrest. The supplies we sent him to the prison disappeared along the way, and basic requests for hygiene supplies were denied. They brought them supplies in garbage bags in a horrifying manner. They have all already been tried without legal advice and without a lawyer. They are pressured to stand trial immediately, the judging officer sentences them to days of confinement at his discretion without a written explanation and without protocols that can be appealed. The rights of these young men are simply being erased.”
She added that her son’s status as a married man should entitle him to additional rights while in custody, but claimed those requests had also been rejected.
“We are talking about a married man, and according to the law he is entitled to rights such as a family visit, but they denied all the requests.”
Concluding the interview, the mother issued an emotional appeal to the authorities, contrasting what she described as the treatment afforded to imprisoned Nukhba terrorists with that received by the chareidi detainees.
“Nukhba terrorists walk around the prison and they check whether they have fruit or not, and my son isn’t allowed a single phone call! If you established a special task force to arrest them – it is your obligation to give them the rights they are entitled to under the law.”