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Torturing Palestinian Detainees
By Stephen Lendman
11/15/07 "ICH" -- - - 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
lendmanstephen@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
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