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From: bangla-vis...@yahoogroups.com [mailto:bangla-vis...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
Romi Elnagar
Sent: Saturday, November 17, 2007 12:25 AM
To: Romi Elnagar
Subject: [bangla-vision] B'Tselem: Israel tortures an estimated 85% of Palestinian
detainees (countercurrents)
Torturing Palestinian Detainees
By Stephen Lendman
14 November, 2007
Countercurrents.org
B'Tselem is the conservative Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied
Territories with a well-deserved reputation for accuracy. A group of prominent
academics, attorneys, journalists and Knesset members founded the organization in 1989
to "document and educate the Israeli public and policymakers about human rights
violations in the Occupied Territories, combat the phenomenon of denial prevalent among
the Israeli public, and help create a human rights culture in Israel" to convince
government officials to respect human rights and comply with international law.
Its work covers a wide range of human rights issues that include detentions and torture.
In May, 2007, it prepared a detailed 100 page report titled "Absolute Prohibition: The
Torture and Ill-treatment of Palestinian Detainees" that's now available in print for
those who request it. This article summarizes its findings that represent a joint effort
by B'Tselem and HaMoked: Center for the Defense of the Individual that was founded in
1988 to support Palestinian rights during the first intifada in the late 1980s.
Since the early 1990s, B'Tselem published more than ten reports on Israelis' use of
torture and mistreatment of Palestinian detainees. This is the latest one in an effort
to raise public awareness and help abolish these abhorrent practices. The findings are
based on testimonies solicited from a small "unrepresentative" sample of 73 Palestinian
West Bank residents who were arrested between July, 2005 and January, 2006, agreed to
tell their stories, and who met predetermined criteria for the study.
They were chosen from the names of 4460 Palestinian detainees whose relatives contacted
HaMoked for help to locate their whereabouts. HaMoked provides this service because
Israel violates international law and its own military regulations by denying family
members any information about who was detained or where they're being held. From its
many years investigating Israeli torture, B'Tselem believes the information in this
report accurately reflects the types and extent of Israeli abusive practices.
Torture, abuse or degrading treatment are abhorrent in any form for any reason, and
long-standing international law forbids these practices under all circumstances. The
four 1949 Geneva Conventions banned any form of "physical or mental coercion" and
affirmed sick, wounded, war prisoners and civilians must be treated humanely. All four
conventions have a common thread called Common Article Three that requires all
non-combatants to be treated humanely at all times. There are no exceptions for any
reasons, and violations are grave breaches of Geneva and other international law that
constitute crimes of war and against humanity.
Nonetheless, the 1987 Landau Commission (headed by retired Israeli Supreme Court Chief
Justice Moshe Landau) cited the "necessary defense" provision in the Penal Law to
recommend using "psychological and moderate physical pressure," to obtain evidence for
convictions in criminal proceedings. Its justification was that coercive interrogation
tactics were necessary against "hostile terrorist activity" it defined to include not
just threats or acts of violence but all activities related to Palestinian nationalism.
Later in September, 1999, Israel's High Court of Justice (HCJ) responded to the Public
Committee Against Torture in Israel's petition (PCATI) and issued a landmark decision
(reversing Landau recommendations) and barred the use of torture against detainees. It
was, however, a hollow gesture as at the same time it ruled pressure and a measure of
discomfort were legitimate interrogation side-effects but should not be used to break a
detainee's spirit. It then added a giant loophole allowing interrogators to use physical
force and avoid prosecutions in "ticking time bomb" cases even though international law
allows no exceptions, and Israeli authorities could claim that excuse for anyone in
custody.
Since its occupation of Gaza and the West Bank (the OPT) in 1967, Israel imprisoned over
650,000 Palestinians according to the Palestinian peace and justice group MIFTA. That's
equivalent to about one-sixth of the OPT's population today. The security services
currently hold around ten to twelve thousand Palestinian men, women and children in its
prisons under deplorable conditions with many under administrative detention without
charge. Based on earlier assessments by Hamoked, B'Tselem estimates as many as 85% of
them are subjected to torture and mistreatment in custody even though most of them
aren't accused of terrorism. These practices are routinely and systematically used
against political activists, students accused of being pro-Islam, sheikhs and religious
leaders, people in Islamic charitable organizations, relatives of wanted individuals or
any man, woman or child Israel targets for any reason.
B'Tselem's May, 2007 report states that the Israeli Security Agency (ISA - formerly
called the General Security Service or GSS) admits to using "exceptional" methods that
include "physical pressure" of interrogation in "ticking bomb" cases that can be used as
an excuse to abuse anyone. In addition, law enforcement officials openly admit harsh
measures are approved retroactively so that Palestinian detainee rights can be freely
violated without fear of recrimination. In other words, ISA interrogators know the rules
- don't ask permission, use any methods you wish, and don't worry about the consequences
after the fact. There won't be any, and it shows in what detainees told B'Tselem.
They reported being "softened up" for interrogation from the moment of their arrest to
when ISA agents took over. Abuses at the outset included beatings, painful binding,
swearing, humiliation and denial of basic needs. The ISA procedure then included seven
key forms of abuse that violated the detainees' dignity and bodily integrity. They were
inflicted to break their spirit, but international law calls it torture when it includes
verified intent, severe pain or suffering, improper motive, and involvement of the
state. All those conditions apply to Israeli abusive practices that included:
-- isolation that prohibited detainees from contact with family, an attorney or ICRC
representatives; this exacerbated detainees' sense of powerlessness by creating a
situation in which they're completely at the mercy of interrogators; it's also known to
cause them serious psychological harm when continued for extended periods;
-- psychological pressure from solitary confinement in "putrid, stifling cells three to
six square meters in size" with no windows or access to daylight and fresh air; a fixed
overhead light on 24 hours a day; walls made of rough plaster making them uncomfortable
or impossible to lean against; a water faucet on one wall and some cells with sinks; a
usually dirty and damp mattress and "filthy putrid" blankets on the floor; nothing else
in cells; reading and writing materials not allowed; in many cells, toilets were holes
in the floor; detainees denied all human contact except for guards and interrogators.
-- physical conditions in solitary confinement cells are regulated in Criminal Procedure
Regulations issued by Israel's Minister of Internal Security with the approval of the
Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee; they don't apply to "security
detainees," however, so cells have no bed, chairs and most often no sink; nothing else
provided including use of a telephone and right to have visitors provide items; cells
were too small to walk around in, and no daily outside exercise was allowed;
-- detainees weakened from lack of physical activity, sleep deprivation and inadequate
food; they're denied basic needs like food and liquids, medicines or the right to
relieve themselves; throughout long hours of interrogation, they're shackled to a chair
unable to move hands or legs even minimally; they had nutritional deficiencies and food
received was inadequate, cold, improperly cooked, flavorless and often repulsive in
appearance; many detainees resisted eating as long as possible;
-- shackling in the "shabah" position that's the prolonged and painful binding of
detainees' hands and feet to a standard-sized unupholstered, metal frame, rigid plastic
chair fixed to the floor with no armrests; hands tightly bound behind the back in
adjustable plastic handcuffs and connected to a ring at the back of the seat to stretch
them uncomfortably below the backrest; legs bound to the chair's front legs; detainees
were unable to get up throughout interrogation that on average lasted eight consecutive
hours without a break and on the first day ran 12 hours; later in the interrogation
period, sessions shortened to four or five hours;
-- interrogations only for a small portion of this time; for most if it, interrogators
were out of the room; at those times air conditioning turned up to uncomfortably cold
levels; most often only one meal served during a day's interrogation; very sparing
toilet privileges allowed; nearly all detainees complained of severe back, neck,
shoulder, arms and wrist pain during interrogation; numbness or loss of sensation in
limbs also reported; the Israeli High Court of Justice (HCJ) ruled in 1999 that all
"shabah" shackling procedures are unlawful since they violate rules for "reasonable and
fair interrogation" and injure detainees' dignity and well-being; ISA interrogators
ignore the ruling with impunity;
-- cursing and humiliating strip searches of detainees as well as shouting, spitting in
the face and other related abusive practices; detainees forced to strip naked and submit
to body searches while being yelled at and mocked;
-- intimidations made to include threats of physical torture (called "military
interrogation"), arrest of family members and destruction of homes;
-- using informants ("asafirs") to get information that's not abusive as such but is a
very questionable method following preparatory "softening up."
B'Tselem then discussed "special" interrogation methods that mostly involve physical
violence:
-- sleep deprivation for 30 to 40 hours during which detainees left painfully shackled
in interrogation rooms; guards frequently awakened detainees between midnight and 5AM;
various type oppressive noises used at night to interfere with sleep;
-- use of "dry" beatings that included punching, kicking all parts of the body, striking
with rifle butts and face slapping; detainees hit with clubs, helmets and other objects;
heads slammed against a wall, floor or hard surface; beatings inflicted when detainees'
hands were bound behind their back, and they were blindfolded; additional beatings
during physical inspections with their hands cuffed;
-- painful binding with handcuffs or other devices tight enough to cut off blood flow
circulation and cause swelling;
-- sharp twisting of the head forcefully and suddenly sideways or backwards;
-- forced "frog" crouching on tiptoes with cuffed hands behind the back accompanied by
shoving or beating until detainees lost their balance and fell forward or backward; this
method inflicts pain by increasing pressure on leg muscles and also hurts wrists after
falling;
-- use of forced "banana" position that involves bending the back in a painful arch
while the body is extended horizontally to the floor on a backless chair with arms and
feet bound beneath it.
Prison killings also occur like the October 22 one at the notorious Ketziot Detention
Center in the Negev desert where 2300 Palestinians are held under very harsh conditions.
It happened at 2AM when prison guards began searching tents and strip-searching inmates
in a deliberate middle of the night provocation. Prisoners resisted and about 550
members of the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) Metsada riot dispersal unit responded with
excessive force by beating them with plastic clubs and rifle butts as well as firing
rubber-coated bullets, live ammunition, tear gas and stun grenades that set tents ablaze
and caused as many as 250 inmate injuries and at least nine serious ones. During the
assault, Mohammed Al Ashqar was killed after being shot in the head.
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) maintains that prisoner abuse, repressive
tactics and killing Palestinians is official Israeli policy that's become even worse
under current IPS director, Beni Kaniak. PCHR reports he instituted these punitive
measures:
-- reductions in food and cleaning materials rations;
-- additional items prisoners forbidden to have;
-- confiscated prisoners' money and prevented none sent from families to reach them;
-- widespread use of solitary confinement;
-- periodic movement of prisoners to new facilities to prevent any sense of stability;
-- repeated unannounced harsh late night raids like the October 22 one at Ketziot.
These tactics and Palestinian detainee torture and abuse are condoned "under the
auspices of the Israeli law enforcement system." B'Tselem reported since 2001, Israel's
State Attorney's Office got over 500 complaints of these practices but investigated none
of them. Overall, instances of detainee mistreatment are rarely looked into and even
fewer ever result in indictments. Further, despite its 1999 ruling, Israel's High Court
of Justice (HCJ) aids ISA interrogations by refusing to accept even one of hundreds of
petitions brought before it for redress. HCJ also lets ISA conceal information from
detainees that abusive orders were issued against them or that legal petitions were
filed on their behalf. It further allows evidence obtained under torture to be used in
criminal proceedings.
B'Tselem and HaMoked are committed to ending Israel's use of torture against Palestinian
detainees. They cite the example of the US Army's September, 2006 Field Manual for Human
Intelligence Collector Operations as a proper guide to conducting interrogations even
though authorized physical and psychological brutality became official administration
policy under George Bush post-9/11. Nonetheless, this manual covers 18 interrogation
methods experience showed work under varying situations and conditions. They range from
establishing trust between interrogator and detainee to the use of ruses and
psychological manipulation. In all cases, they don't involve torture or other unlawful
practices.
It's one thing to have rules and laws and another to abide by them. The US under George
Bush condones and practices "the harshest interrogation techniques ever used by the
Central Intelligence Agency" according to once secret Department of Justice (DOJ) legal
opinions. It's no different in Israel where the ISA systematically and routinely uses
banned interrogation measures with impunity. B'Tselem and HaMoked want these practices
ended and urge the Israeli government to halt them by enacting enforceable laws
"strictly prohibiting torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment" in accordance
with international law.
They further recommend every complaint of abuse and torture be investigated by an
independent body, persons found to have broken the law to be prosecuted, and that "every
detainee receives minimum humane conditions." Israel claims to be a civilized state.
It's about time it acted like one.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstep...@sbcglobal.net.
Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to The Steve Lendman News
and Information Hour on TheMIcroEffect.com Mondays at noon US central time.
http://www.counterc <http://www.countercurrents.org/lendman141107.htm>
urrents.org/lendman141107.htm
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