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Torture And Ill Treatment Of Detainees In Israel Wednesday, 24 June 2009, 10:59 am Press Release: Committee Against Torture in Israel

A Variety Of Agencies In Israel – Chief Among Them The GSS And The IDF – Shackle Detainees In Painful Ways That Amount To Torture And Ill Treatment

This is done in violation of Israeli law, basic moral principles and international law, including international human rights conventions signed by Israel. The primary victims of this practice are Palestinian ‘security’ detainees.

The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) released a major report, based on 547 cases of arrest by soldiers and dozens of interrogations by the GSS in the past year as well as additional cases from previous years. The report reveals that various security agencies in Israel, chief among them the IDF and the GSS, shackle detainees in painful and humiliating manners that in a number of instances rise to the level of torture in violation of domestic law, High Court of Justice judgments, international law and accepted international standards of practice which allow for restraining for the purposes of preventing a detainee from escaping, or endangering himself or his surroundings. In Israel detainees are painfully shackled as a matter of practice. Painful shackling is done for invalid and irrelevant reasons, which include causing pain and suffering, punishment, intimidation, and illegally eliciting information and confessions. The main victims of this practice are Palestinian ‘security’ detainees yet the culture of contempt for the dignity of detainees gravitates inward towards Israeli society itself at times harming detainees who belong to other groups. The report, entitled, “Shackling as a Form of Torture and Abuse” was written by PCATI Advocate Samah Elkhatib Ayoub.

The report is being published in advance of the UN International Day in Support of Torture Victims that is marked throughout the world on the 26th of June. PCATI will mark this day with a number of events and radio broadcasts, among them:

• 25 June – Public Conference of Noted Israel Prize Laureates at Beit Sokolov in Tel Aviv. The event will be attended by Notable Israel Prize Laureates, Shulamit Aloni, Prof. Ram Levi, Prof. Yehuda Judd Ne'eman, Prof. Yonah Rosenfeld, Ruth Reznick and Prof. Alice Shalvi. Report author, Adv. Samah Elkhatib Ayoub will participate in the discussions The event will take place from 20:00-22:00.


• 26 June – PCATI will engage in an innovative and thought provoking street theatre action near Israel's Governmental offices, including the Supreme Court, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (corner of Sussman and Rabin) in Jerusalem to protest the practice and to mark the day, it will be photographed by prominent Israeli photo journalist Miki Kretzman; The photos will be displayed at a well known art gallery in Tel Aviv. The event will begin at 10:00 AM. Those who wish to participate should call or email Yemina@stoptorture.org.il at PCATI and request a specially designed T-Shirt.


• 21 - 26 June - All For Peace Radio (107.2 FM and http://www.allforpeace.org/ ) will dedicate significant programming to the subject of torture, featuring stories and interviews with PCATI staff and others.

Executive Summary:

The Report puts forward a long line of testimonies from Palestinian detainees who were painfully shackled by soldiers, GSS agents and at times prison guards. Many detainees, the report reveals, suffer from painful shackling at various stages during arrest, detention and interrogation and even while being transferred for medical treatment.

Shackling by Soldiers:

The report's findings disclose that soldiers tend to shackle detainees hands in a painful and harmful manner which begins at the time of arrest and lasts during their transfer to the various interrogation facilities. Detainees are largely and systematically shackled behind their backs in combination with excessive tightening of the narrow plastic manacles, causing pain and at times lasting injury. Some of the detainees describe additional tightening of the plastic restraints with the obvious goal to causing additional suffering which is the usual answer to detainee's who complain about the pain. In the past year alone PCATI documented not less than 574 cases of painful shackling by Israeli soldiers. These figures, which are surely only the tip of the iceberg, testify to the extent of the phenomena. The testimony of the detainees is supported by soldier testimony provided by "Breaking the Silence, which appears in the report.

Sample Excerpt:

"I shouted that my hands were hurting. One of the soldiers came up to me and asked what was wrong and why I was shouting. I said that the handcuffing was very painful. Then he took a look at my hands. I thought he was going to unfasten the handcuffs but instead he twisted the knot even more and tightened the cuffing further." (Taken from the testimony of Yazan Sawalha, a resident of Nabulus).

Shackling by the GSS:

Following arrest, security detainees are transferred to a GSS interrogation facility. Although the facilities are highly secured and there is no danger of escape, detainees are regularly shackled with their hands behind their backs, around the back of the chair upon which they are sitting. It is not uncommon for them to be held in this position for hours at a time and even for days on end. Often the detainee is left in this manner in a locked interrogation room for hours at a time, even when he is not being interrogated. Shackling of this sort, when the body is contorted occasionally results in long-term damage. This practice cannot be justified by the concerns for the safety of the interrogators or prevention of escape attempts offered by officials. The unacceptability of this claim is further demonstrated in light of the fact that these detainees – restrained in GSS interrogation chambers – are brought before police interrogators so that they can take their confession while the detainee is left unrestrained. These facts leave no room for doubt: painful shackling is designed to break the interrogee's spirit and to illegally extract a confession or information from him, in violation of Israel's obligations under the UN Convention Against Torture and other international conventions and instruments. In addition there are occasions when the GSS interrogators will shackle the interrogee in an additional pair of manacles that are fastened on the forearm or on the upper arm and which the interrogators then pull on in a manner that is clearly designed to cause intolerable pain. The report also contains the story of an interrogee who was restrained by his hands and feet to a cot for two consecutive days without even being interrogated and denied access to the lavatory, forcing him to relieve himself in his clothes.

Sample Excerpt:

"[One of the interrogators] brought very narrow metal handcuffs, tightened them on my arms above the elastic bandage, and turned them strongly around the arm. I felt he was turning the bone, as if the bone was separating from the flesh of my arm. He did this separately to each arm, alternately – first the right hand then the left… I shouted out loud because it was very painful. And each time I shouted he shouted louder in my ear, yelling in my right ear as he turned the handcuffs on my right arm, and vice versa" (from the testimony of Haytham Ibrahim Salhab, resident of East Jerusalem who was interrogated in the Russian Compound – Jerusalem).

Shackling During Medical Treatment:

The report points to improvements in practices and procedures concerning the shackling of detainees when they are brought for medical treatment – following actions taken by PCATI and Physicians for Human Rights – Israel. However, security detainees do not benefit from these improvements. Rather they continue to receive medical treatment in hospitals while they are shackled, uniformly with no consideration of the threat they may or may not present.

Recommendations:

The report contains a number of detailed recommendations and among them a call to cease the blanket shackling of detainees which does not take their individual situation into consideration.. In instances in which there is a justification to shackle the detainee, the report says, it must be done in such a manner that does not cause pain and which is proportional to the need. PCATI calls for the enforcement of the law and to bring to justice those who violate the law, and their superiors, and to allow for independent monitoring mechanisms in GSS interrogator centers. Additionally there is a clear need to document via video and audio the interrogations so that it will be possible to supervise them and have information in inquiries into complaints of painful shackling and other forms of torture and ill treatment during interrogation.

ENDS

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