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<a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/lendman11142007.html" eudora="autourl">
http://www.counterpunch.org/lendman11142007.html<br><br>
</a></font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=4><b>November 14,
2007<br><br>
</font><h1><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=5><b>From the
"Frog" to the "Banana" Position<br><br>
<br>
</i></font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=5 color="#990000">
Torturing Palestinian
Detainees</b></font></h1><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=5>By
STEPHEN LENDMAN<br><br>
</font><font face="Verdana" size=6 color="#990000">B</font>
<font face="Verdana" size=2>'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.<br><br>
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.<br><br>
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. <br><br>
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.<br><br>
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.<br><br>
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.<br><br>
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.<br><br>
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.<br><br>
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.<br><br>
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: <br><br>
</font>
<dl>
<dd>-- 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;<br><br>
<dd>-- 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. <br><br>
<dd>-- 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; <br><br>
<dd>-- 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;<br><br>
<dd>-- 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;<br><br>
<dd>-- 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;<br><br>
<dd>-- 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;<br><br>
<dd>-- intimidations made to include threats of physical torture (called
"military interrogation"), arrest of family members and
destruction of homes;<br><br>
<dd>-- using informants ("asafirs") to get information that's
not abusive as such but is a very questionable method following
preparatory "softening up."<br><br>
</dl>B'Tselem then discussed "special" interrogation methods
that mostly involve physical violence:<br><br>
<dl>
<dd>-- 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;<br><br>
<dd>-- 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;<br><br>
<dd>-- painful binding with handcuffs or other devices tight enough to
cut off blood flow circulation and cause swelling;<br><br>
<dd>-- sharp twisting of the head forcefully and suddenly sideways or
backwards;<br><br>
<dd>-- 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;<br><br>
<dd>-- 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.<br><br>
</dl>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. <br><br>
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:<br><br>
<dl>
<dd>-- reductions in food and cleaning materials rations;<br><br>
<dd>-- additional items prisoners forbidden to have;<br><br>
<dd>-- confiscated prisoners' money and prevented none sent from families
to reach them;<br><br>
<dd>-- widespread use of solitary confinement;<br><br>
<dd>-- periodic movement of prisoners to new facilities to prevent any
sense of stability;<br><br>
<dd>-- repeated unannounced harsh late night raids like the October 22
one at Ketziot.<br><br>
</dl>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.<br><br>
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.<br><br>
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.<br><br>
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.<br><br>
Stephen Lendman</b> lives in Chicago and can be reached at
<a href="mailto:lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net">
lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net</a>.<br><br>
<br><br>
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