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Torture in israel has again become routine { August 22 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=330457&contrassID=2&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Yhttp://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=330457&contrassID=2&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y
Friday, August 22, 2003 Av 24, 5763
`Tourture in Israel has again become routine'
By Moshe Reinfeld
A report released yesterday by the Public Committee
Against Torture claims that the use of torture in
the interrogation of Palestinian suspects has
increased significantly over the past two years.
Hundreds of Palestinians were subject to Shin Bet security
service interrogations defined as torture, inhumane or
humiliating during each of the first six months of the year,
compared to dozens in September 2001, the human rights group
said.
The abuse of Palestinian
suspects has worsened and can justifiably be
termed torture under criteria established by
international law, according to the report.
Moreover, such use of torture in interrogation
violates a ruling reached by Israel's High
Court in 1999.
"Torture in Israel has once again become
routine," the report's writers conclude. They
charge that Israeli authorities such as the
High Court and attorney general, which are
supposed to monitor the Shin Bet and guarantee
that its interrogation procedures conform with
the law, have failed to discharge such
responsibility. Rather than supervising the
Shin Bet, these authorities have simply rubber
stamped the security service's decisions.
In past months, the High Court rejected all 124
petitions submitted by the committee demanding
that Palestinian suspects be allowed to confer
with their attorneys, the report notes.
Also, the report's writers claim, the State
Prosecutor's Office entrusts a Shin Bet
official to review complaints lodged by
Palestinian detainees; therefore, it is no
surprise that no Shin Bet interrogator has been
found guilty of torturing a suspect "without
cause."
The rights group accuses the Shin Bet of using a
variety of violent interrogation methods,
including hitting, slapping and kicking
suspects; stepping on handcuffs; forcing the
suspect to bend in a painful position; and
shaking suspects.
Other illegal measures taken against suspects
include sleep deprivation, threats and
humiliation, exposure to extreme cold or heat
and isolation in inhumane confinement.
Of the 48 detainees who gave statements to the
committee's lawyers during the first four
months of the year, 58% claimed they had been
victimized by direct violence; 52% complained
of sleep deprivation; and 90% said their hands
had been tied behind their backs for prolonged
periods.
The report denounces what it regards as a moral
decline in Israel and consistent violation of
democratic norms, calling on the government to
comply fully with international laws
prohibiting torture and inhumane treatment of
suspects.
A spokesman for Israel's courts last night
rejected the report's findings. After a
petition demanding the right to confer with
counsel is filed, High Court judges require
Shin Bet officials to furnish detailed reasons
justifying their decision to deny a suspect's
request to confer with an attorney, the
spokesman said, adding that the prevention of a
right to counsel does not mean that
interrogators use torture.
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