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Amnesty Criticizes Israeli Forces' Increasing Torture of Palestinians
GENEVA, Nov. 20 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Amnesty International on Tuesday accused Israeli security forces of increasingly using torture against Palestinians, despite a 1999 High Court ruling which sought to stop the practice.
In a written submission to the U.N. Committee Against Torture, which began its regular examination of Israel on Tuesday, the human rights group said the Israeli government had failed to counter evidence of the increasing use of torture by law enforcement officials during interrogations, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Amnesty said it was concerned that members of the Israeli security forces "appear to benefit from impunity for torture or ill-treatment of Palestinians."
Amnesty said it had "strong evidence" that methods such as sleep deprivation, painful handcuffing and forced positioning were being used again, mainly against Palestinians.
"We regret that notwithstanding the [Israeli] High Court of Justice's 1999 ruling and the [U.N.] Committee Against Torture's clear statement in 1997 that these methods constitute torture, the state of Israel, in its report to the committee, continues to deny this," Amnesty said.
It told the committee that detainees were frequently held for more than 20 days without access to lawyers or families, and drew attention to incidents of prolonged detention and brutality.
Amnesty said Israel's failure to acknowledge the illegality of some interrogation methods "has been an important factor in encouraging their revival."
In its report, however, Israel said the high court ruling "had an immediate and profound effect" on the conduct of investigations by security forces, while claiming that the judgement "did not find the alleged interrogation methods constituted torture in violation of the [U.N.] Convention."
Israel further claimed that "if any investigator is found to have used physical pressure against a suspect during an investigation, he will be disciplined and where necessary, he will be dismissed."
Israel said the Israeli authorities were investigating complaints.
At the opening of the session, U.N. committee members welcomed the Israeli court's decision, which occurred about a year after the United Nations last examined Israel's torture record. They voiced deep concern, though, about the reports of ongoing torture, said AFP.
In its last report, in 1998, the committee had called for an immediate end to Israeli interrogations involving the use of force or "physical pressure", including hooding, shackling in painful positions, sleep deprivation and shaking of detainees.
Israel had defended its torture policy at the time, claiming that pressure might be necessary to stop imminent attacks.
The 10 independent experts on the U.N. committee regularly examine the application of the International Convention Against Torture by the 126 countries that have ratified it.
The United Nations says the convention requires signatories to outlaw torture and explicitly prohibits the use of "higher orders" or "exceptional circumstances" as excuses for acts of torture.
Three human rights groups accused Israel - in a joint statement earlier this month - of resuming the systematic torture of Palestinian detainees, even though the Israeli Supreme Court banned the practice two years ago.
The document cited affidavits from detainees, including a 16-year-old who said he was soaked in freezing water, made to carry a heavy wooden beam while manacled and then beaten, the British daily
The Independent reported.
An Israeli government report on the issue claimed the ban on torture was still in effect.
The joint document by the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI), the Palestinian rights group LAW and the Swiss-based World Organization Against Torture contended that the September 1999 High Court ruling has been regularly flouted, particularly since the Intifada, or uprising against illegal Israeli occupation, began in September of last year.
"Torture and other forms of ill-treatment are still widely used against Palestinian detainees, both in GSS [General Security Service or Shin Bet] interrogation facilities and by members of the Israeli army and police," says the document.
The report cites nine affidavits by Arab detainees saying they were interrogated using methods expressly forbidden under the 1999 ruling or by existing Israeli or international law. The groups say they have received about 20 reports of violations since the ruling was passed.
According to The Independent, these methods include sleep deprivation, shackling a prisoner to a chair in painful positions for prolonged periods, use of smelly hoods, the playing of deafening sounds and beating, slapping and kicking.
Rami Zaul, 16, who was interrogated in October and November 2000, described how freezing water was poured on to him. He said he was then forced, while handcuffed, to drag a wooden beam with one of his interrogators standing on it. "When I got tired and dropped it I was beaten hard," he said.
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