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<b>(A torturer condemning another torturer)<br>
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<b>Report Slams Israeli Torture of Palestinian Detainees <br>
</b>March 12, 2005 <br>
By Samar Assad <br><br>
</font><font face="verdana" size=3>U.S. state department says all
government authorities took part in approving abuse <br><br>
Recently, the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor at the U.S.
State Department released its 2004 Country Reports on Human Rights
Practices. In the section on Israel and the Occupied Territories, the
report points to "problems in some areas" in reference to
Israel's treatment of Palestinian prisoners and detainees. The report
quotes complaints made by "credible" non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) against the Israeli Prison System (IPS) - complaints
that Palestinian NGO's and prisoners rights groups have been making for
decades - that Israel's treatment and detention of Palestinian political
prisoners is in violation of international law and human rights.
<br><br>
<b>The U.S. government report states that "some" members of
Israel's security forces abuse Palestinian detainees. However, according
to the Israeli Human Rights group B'Tselem, in Israel, "for years,
torture was commonly used by Israel's General Security Service (GSS)
interrogators. <br><br>
"Since in 1987, the GSS interrogated at least 850 Palestinians a
year by means of torture. The methods included violent shaking, binding
the detainees in painful positions and covering their head with a
foul-smelling sack. All governmental authorities - from the Israeli Army
to the Supreme Court - took part in approving torture, in developing new
methods and in supervizing them." <br><br>
In 1999, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that only "some"
methods of interrogation used against Palestinian detainees were illegal
and unacceptable. By not fully banning torture, the Israeli Supreme Court
has legally condoned some forms of torture which is in violation of
international law. <br><br>
Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and Article
7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966)
provide that no one shall be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment. This principle was ratified by the
1984 Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment. <br><br>
Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel argued that
Chief Justice Aharon Barak's ruling came after pressure from American
legal academics. Adalah lawyers added that in the past, Barak had issued
many decisions in favor of the use of torture to extract information or
confessions from Palestinian suspects. <br><br>
The U.S. report points out that in June 2003, Physicians for Human Rights
(PHR) in Israel petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court to end the IPS's
"systematic abuse of prisoners" in Israel's Sharon Prison. In
July the court closed the case after the appointment of a new prison
warden. <br><br>
Furthermore, a November 2003 PHR report found that Palestinian detainees
in Jerusalem's Russian Compound interrogation center were given medical
examinations upon arrival to determine if the prisoner could endure
"the application of violent approaches to those jailed."
<br><br>
The U.S. report states that "a reputable international organization
with access to this facility also reported during 2003 that it is
investigating the use of Israeli doctors in this capacity."
<br><br>
The report found that although IPS facilities - home to common law
criminals and convicted security prisoners - generally meet international
standards, the International Committee of the Red Cross found that police
detention and interrogation facilities for Palestinians were
"overcrowded and had austere, provisional conditions."
<br><br>
According to the Palestinian Prisoners' Association there are close to
8,000 Palestinians currently being held in Israeli prisons or detention
centers. <br><br>
Of those, 400 Palestinians were sentenced before the Oslo Peace Accords
and remain in prison despite the Accords' call for their release.
Nineteen are serving sentences of 20 years or more; 140 are sentenced to
over 15 years; 300 are children; and 1,200 are being held under
administrative detention. <br><br>
Israeli law allows its military to hold Palestinians under administrative
detention for up to six months without charge or trial. Israel routinely
renews the detention orders and may do so without limitation, thereby
holding Palestinians without charge or trial indefinitely. There are 128
Palestinian female prisoners in Israeli jails. <br><br>
In February 2005, Israel released 500 Palestinians as part of the Sharm
el-Sheikh agreement. <br><br>
However, according to IPS, the majority of those released were
administrative detainees. The bulk of the released prisoners - 250 - are
members of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party.
Some 175 are members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The remaining 80 have no
political affiliation. <br><br>
Palestinian prisoners' rights advocates and the Palestinian Authority
(PA) were not happy with the recent release. They argue that the release
was not coordinated with them through a joint committee as stipulated in
the Sharm el-Sheikh agreement. <br><br>
Furthermore, they argue that the release did not address the urgent need
to release prisoners who are ill, the elderly, those who are serving
sentences 20 years or more, and most importantly, child prisoners.
<br><br>
According to the Palestinian Prisoners Club, 3,000 Palestinian children
have been arrested since 2000. Today, there are 300 Palestinian children
in Israeli custody. Four percent of the incarcerated children are in
administrative detention. The majority, 55 percent, were arrested for
throwing stones at Israeli soldiers. <br><br>
According to Israeli military orders, Palestinian children 16 and older
are treated as adults and are tried and sentenced by Israeli military
courts as adults. Israeli military orders are applied to Palestinian
children, even as juvenile legislation defines Israeli children as 18 or
younger. <br><br>
Furthermore, Palestinian children receive the same treatment as adult
prisoners. They are subject to torture, solitary confinement, and/or
overcrowded cells. They are deprived of sleep, adequate education,
medical treatment, family visits and recreational programs. <br><br>
Defense for Children International and Save the Children have stated that
Palestinian children are being "physically and mentally
abused." <br><br>
They confirm Palestinian accusations that children are denied access to
their families and legal representation during interrogation and are held
in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions. <br><br>
Israel insists that it will not release Palestinians convicted with the
killing of Israelis. However, in most cases, Israeli courts fail to prove
a detainee's direct responsibility for the death of Israelis. <br><br>
According to the IPS, only 2,731 Palestinian prisoners have "blood
on their hands." <br><br>
If that is the actual number, then the vast majority of Palestinian
prisoners are political prisoners who have been arrested for political
expression or for no legitimate security reason. This is in contradiction
to international covenants enshrining the freedom of speech for all
persons, especially political dissidents. <br><br>
According to B'Tselem, "security is interpreted in an extremely
broad manner such that nonviolent speech and political activity are
considered dangerous. ... [This] is a blatant contradiction of the right
to freedom of speech and freedom of opinion guaranteed under
international law. If these same standards were applied inside Israel,
half of the Likud party would be in administrative detention."
<br><br>
Administrative detentions and imprisonment of Palestinians from the
Occupied Territories inside Israel are both illegal under the Fourth
Geneva Convention. <br><br>
According to Article 76, "protected persons accused of offenses
shall be detained in the occupied country, and if convicted they shall
serve their sentences therein. They shall, if possible, be separated from
other detainees and shall enjoy conditions of food and hygiene which will
be sufficient to keep them in good health, and which will be at least
equal to those obtaining in prisons in the occupied country."
<br><br>
Furthermore, Palestinian prisoners are routinely tortured by Israel and
held in detention centers and prisons that fail to meet the minimum
international standards and are routinely denied visitation rights.
<br><br>
Article 1 of the Convention defines torture as "any act by which
severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally
inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third
person information or confession." <br><br>
</font>Source: The Daily Star <br><br>
<br>
<i>"Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have
recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression,
that human rights should be protected by the rule of law" (From
Preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to which Israel is
a signatory)<br><br>
</i></b> <br>
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