Israeli secret agency defends use of torture

Tuesday December 01, 2009 16:49 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News

The Israeli secret service agency, Shin Bet, responded to a petition in Israel's High Court on Monday, defending their use of torture against Palestinian detainees.

The petition was filed by the Public Committee Against Torture, a prisoner advocacy group which challenged the Israeli practice of forcing Palestinian detainees to sit on small chairs with their hands cuffed behind the chair during interrogations.

But Shin Bet agents insisted that their methods of interrogating Palestinian detainees are 'humane'. They said that since they increased the length of the chain between the handcuffs to 48 inches, their methods of handcuffing are now humane.

The Israeli secret agency said that the handcuffing of Palestinians during interrogation is necessary in order to 'prevent escape attempts', but gave no examples of such escape attempts actually taking place.

In 1999, the Israeli High Court determined that a number of torture techniques used by Shin Bet, including the 'banana' technique pictured above, were illegal. But Palestinian detainees who have served time in Israeli prison camps in the ten years since that ruling say that many of the banned techniques continue to be used by Shin Bet and other Israeli military agencies.

Israeli occupation soldiers get 'slap on the wrist' for force-feeding Palestinian detainees

Tuesday December 01, 2009 09:56 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News

Four Israeli occupation soldiers who were caught abusing and force-feeding of Palestinian detainees were sentenced Monday by a military court to a demotion of one rank and a small fine of less than $500 each. Prisoner rights advocates called the sentence an outrage.

The four soldiers were originally charged with aggravated abuse, but that charge was lessened to 'overstepping their authority', which carries a much lighter sentence.

The Military Advocacy unit said that the sentence was too light, given the severity of the incident, and is considering appealing the sentence.

The case stems from a 2006 incident in which the soldiers, who were transporting 13 Palestinian detainees, forced the men to stand in a circle blindfolded and holding onto each other, while the soldiers forced food down their throats. The victims also say they were beaten by at least one of the soldiers.

The judge presiding over Monday's sentencing hearing acknowledged the severity of the incident, but did not express any concern about the well-being of the Palestinian victims. Instead, Lt. Col. Roni Pinhas said the incident “damaged the image of the [Israeli military] and the State of Israel. These actions were carried out as a blatantly negative use of force and authority associated with the defendants' roles while damaging the military and its discipline."

But the judge said that even though the abuse was documented and severe, the sentences would be light because the perpetrators expressed 'remorse' for their actions and were no longer soldiers in the army. A fifth defendant in the case is still awaiting sentencing.