PCATI: End the use of shackling

The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) today petitioned the High Court of Justice:

End the use of shackling as a tool of interrogation and, particularly,
intentional painful shackling by the General Security Service (GSS)

The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) this morning petitioned the High Court of Justice demanding that it order the GSS to refrain from using shackling as an interrogation tool and, particularly, to refrain from shackling interrogees in degrading positions or in positions that cause pain, suffering, or that constitute torture. PCATI requested, inter alia, that the Court prohibit the use of the following positions: the shackling of detainees on the upper arms or forearms ("high shackling"), the shackling of detainees behind the back, or restraining the hands of the interrogee on the armrests of the chair in a way that does not allow for movement ("routine shackling"). PCATI, in addition, requested that the Court order the formulation and publication of clear guidelines concerning the use of means of restraint in a way that does not cause interrogees pain or suffering, that defines permissible forms of restraint, and also that the frequency and extent of time they may be used. The petition is directed against the Prime Minister (who is responsible for the GSS), the Head of the GSS, and the Minister of Internal Security who is directly responsible for the Israel Prison Service and Israel Police facilities in which GSS interrogation facilities are located, and for the wardens and police officers who, in practice, shackle detainees for the GSS.

The petition was submitted subsequent to the findings of the report "Shackling as a Form of Torture and Abuse" that was issued by PCATI on June 24. The report revealed that painful and degrading shackling is routinely practiced by GSS interrogators and Israeli soldiers. The methods regularly used in GSS interrogation cause pain, suffering and extreme humiliation and that on many occasions interrogees are shackled for extended periods of time, for hours or days at a time. In many cases shackling causes extreme pain and also serious injury. On some occasions this injury is permanent. This, at the very least, constitutes severe ill treatment. In many cases it amounts to torture whose purpose is to extract confessions from interrogees. Additional information on the report and the full report can be found on http://www.stoptorture.org.il/en/node/1441

The petition claims that painful and degrading shackling, routinely employed in GSS interrogation is a violation of the right to be free of torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and punishment. This right has long been considered an absolute and unconditional constitutional right with no room for derogation even under exceptional circumstances. Abusive shackling also constitutes a severe violation of the right of detainees to physical and psychological well being, which may very well amount to torture, particularly when used on the forearms or arms in a way that distorts the body ("high shackling"). On many occasions, painful shackling of interrogees is employed by GSS interrogators who condition the victim's release from it on providing information. The conclusion that painful shackling is used as a form of pressure aimed at eliciting information from the detainee and not as a means of protecting interrogators or preventing a detainee from escaping (as claimed by the GSS) is supported by the fact that those same interrogees are not restrained when they are taken to give their confession to police officers, often waiting next door in the same interrogation facility. This raises the question: if these interrogees are so dangerous to GSS interrogators, how is it that there is no similar concern regarding police interrogators?

The petition was written by Attorneys Samah Elkhatib-Ayoub and Bana Shoughry-Badarne of the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI).

High Court of Justice case #5553/09

www.stotptorture.org.il

ENDS

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