Report: High Court permits torture of Palestinians
Public Committee Against Torture in Israel says there
is ‘no effective barrier – not legal and certainly
not ethical – that stands in the way of using
torture’; Shin Bet in response: Interrogations help
prevent thwart terror attacks
Aviram Zino Published: 05.30.07, 12:06 / Israel News
The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI)
on Wednesday slammed the High Court's approval of the
use of controversial methods to interrogate
Palestinians deemed as “ticking bombs,” saying the
ruling was interpreted by the Shin Bet as a green
light to torture almost every Palestinian detainee.
A report released by the PCATI showcases detailed
accounts of nine Palestinian detainees it claims were
tortured by physicians and medical staff members in
hospitals, Shin Bet interrogators, military judges and
advocates, prison wardens, police officers and even
senior Justice Ministry officials.
According to the report, the idea of a "ticking bomb"
was first coined as a literary concept by French
author and journalist Jean Lartéguy in his book "Les
Centurions," 1961, which relates to the French
occupation of Algeria, “which was no less brutal
than the Israeli occupation of Palestinian
Territories.”
“It is entirely possible that the practice of
torture is an effective measure for obtaining
information that may save human life (the
Public Committee Against Torture opposes torture
absolutely, regardless of such claims), but the
testimonies of the nine terror victims exemplify the
extent to which the torture mechanism is rooted in the
treatment of Palestinian detainees, and the
exceedingly bureaucratic way in which torture is
carried out, in an organized, almost blasé manner,”
the report said.
“We have no way of knowing what information was in
the possession of the Israeli security apparatuses
that led to the use of such sadistic torture, but it
is doubtful that any of the victims fits the very
terrible scenario of a ‘ticking bomb’.”
'Ethical boundary is blurred'
PCATI said in the report that it is no longer possible
to limit the practice of torture to exceptional cases.
“Today in Israel, there is no effective barrier –
not legal and certainly not ethical – that stands in
the way of using torture. A secret service
organization such as the GSS (Shin Bet) decides
independently to use torture and, afterwards,
investigates itself as to whether the use of
interrogation was justified.
“The Justice Ministry – from the Attorney General
through the State Attorney's Office and the nameless
GSS Ombudsman of Interogees' Complaints – gives
systematic and blind backing to the interrogation
methods of the GSS. The legal system tends to avoid
torture victims' complaints,” the report said.
PCATI director Hannah Friedman said in the report’s
closing paragraph that “when the nations of the
world decided in the wake of the world wars of the
last century to prohibit the use of torture absolutely
and with no reservations, this was an attempt to
denote an ethical boundary between the nations of the
world and the old, cruel, racist, un-discriminatingly
murderous world – to declare that there are deeds
that democracies and decent people do not commit.
“Torture victims, in their painful testimonies,
serve to warn us that this ethical boundary is blurred
in our society. A state that views itself as a
democracy committed to the protection of human rights
cannot allow torture that is derived from the darkness
of the Middle Ages,” she said.
The Shin Bet security agency said in response that its
interrogations were "conducted according to the law.
All detainees have the right to file a complaint with
the courts or the Red Cross and these will be examined
by the Ombudsman of Interogees' Complaints.”
0 Have Your Say!:
Post a Comment