Torture of Palestinian detainees by Shin Bet investigators rises sharply
In the second half of last year, there were 51 instances of torture reported, compared to eight in the first half of 2014.
By Chaim Levinson
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Mohammed
Hatib, a Hamas activist from Hebron, is a childhood friend of Marwan
Kawasme, who masterminded the abduction and subsequent murder of the
three teens from Gush Etzion in June 2014. Hatib was arrested shortly
after the kidnapping and interrogated by the Shin Bet security service.
He denied any knowledge of the affair and said he had no idea where
Kawasme had disappeared to.
Hatib’s
questioning very quickly turned into torture, what the Ofer Military
Court judges call “required by necessity,” “exceptional questioning,” or
“special means.” Under torture, Hatib admitted to serving as a lookout
for Kawasme and his accomplice, Amar Abu-Aisha, on the night of the
abduction. This was a lie; the investigation showed that there was no
lookout. The Shin Bet and the military prosecution did not believe
Hatib, as can be seen by the indictment he was served, in which there is
no mention of involvement in the abduction. He stands accused of firing
a rifle in the air in 2006 and later taking part in a large number of
Hamas rallies and protests.
Hatib’s
questioning under torture is part of a trend, that began in the second
half of 2014, of the increased use of torture by the Shin Bet, according
to an attorney who represents many suspects accused of security
offenses, information collected by Haaretz from military courts, and the
Public Committee Against Torture in Israel.
“In years past there were a few rare cases. But something has changed,” the attorney said.
In
all of 2014, 23 Palestinians filed a number of complaints of torture by
the Shin Bet (each complainant can file a complaint over a number of
different methods of torture). In the first half of 2014 there were five
complaints of sleep deprivation and beatings during interrogation.
There were no complaints of shaking or of tying suspects in what are
known as the “banana” and the “frog” position. But in the second half of
2014, there were 19 complaints of sleep deprivation, 12 of beatings, 18
of tying and two of shaking. All in all there were 51 instances
reported, as opposed to eight in the first half of the year.
In 2013 there were 16 instances of violent means during questioning reported; in 2012, 30; in 2011,27; and in 2010, 42.
The
Shin Bet is required to report to the court that torture were used, so
that the judges will know what weight to give evidence gathered under
such means. Defense attorneys are not allowed to make copies of the
reports, but only to read them. The documents themselves are kept in a
safe.
Until
1999, thousands of Palestinian prisoners were tortured every year. The
Public Committee against Torture in Israel estimates that most
Palestinians questioned experienced at least one kind of torture.
In
September 1999, following a petition to the High Court of Justice, the
court prohibited the systematic use of torture, but left a small opening
to interrogators: An interrogator who used violence could claim after
the fact that there was an “urgent need” to violate the law. Then-High
Court President Aharon Barak left it to the discretion of the attorney
general whether to press charges.
“Urgent
need” is something that is decided in retrospect, if a complaint is
filed, but in extreme cases permits to torture are still issued. The
attorney general has set rules as to when “urgent need” is present, but
these rules are not made public.
Officials
in the military court who have seen the Shin Bet documents say that a
number of types of torture are mentioned. These include blindfolding for
extended periods, which causes a loss of orientation, five or six
interrogators who stand around a suspect and shout into his ears for
hours, forcing a suspect to kneel against a wall with knees bent,
beatings, tickling with a feather in the nose or ear, slapping, forcing a
suspect to stand for hours hands at his sides and tying in the “banana”
posture. The documents reveal that these methods are new and less
brutal than the ones outlawed by the High Court, among which are
covering the head with a sack for many hours, tying in the “frog”
position and sleep deprivation.
One
person who underwent torture is Ziad Awad, convicted of the murder of
police Commander Baruch Mizrahi on Passover eve of 2014. The suspects in
the abduction of the three teens were also tortured, most of them after
the bodies of the victims were found on June 30. The Shin Bet said the
two men who carried out the abduction, Kawasme and Abu-Aisha, were about
to commit another attack and where therefore considered a “ticking
bomb.”
Six
or seven men were tortured in the case of a Hamas terror cell uncovered
in the West Bank in August. The cell’s leader, Riad Nasser, was
tortured for several hours. The Shin Bet said that the group was
planning an overthrow in the West Bank; however, no evidence of this was
found in the investigative material. Military Intelligence said that
the Shin Bet had exaggerated the seriousness of the infrastructure.
However, large quantities of weapons were found, which the Shin Bet said
justified the use of “special means.”
Three
Palestinians accused of an attempt on the life of Foreign Minister
Avigdor Lieberman were also tortured, although evidence in the case was
slim: One of the suspects thought he saw a car belonging to Lieberman,
decided to kill him and asked one of the others to buy a LAW missile to
do so. The car was not Lieberman’s but the Shin Bet believed the threat
to a senior official justified the use of torture.
Torture
is not always shown to be effective. Ziad Awad never admitted to murder
even after intensive questioning. The indictment against him was based
on a rifle found at his home and other evidence.
Mohammad
Hatib’s attorney, Fadi Kawasme, told Haaretz: “The High Court
recognized the need in cases of a ‘ticking bomb.’” But no one knows what
level of suspicion must be present to use “urgent need” as a
justification, Kawasme said, adding: “After the abduction, the Shin Bet
used the necessity [clause] in order to investigate people just because
they were friends of the attackers.”
The
Shin Bet responded: “The individuals mentioned in the article were
questioned on suspicion of committing the most serious crimes and after
investigation they were indicted for murdering Commander Mizrahi and
attempted murder of his family. Riad Nasser was indicted for a long
series of offenses including heading the Hamas military infrastructure
in the Ramallah area, which planned, among other things, attacks on
Israelis.”
The
Shin Bet said it operates “only within the framework of the law and is
under internal and external supervision.” The Shin Bet added that the
detainees it questions “receive all humanitarian rights according to
international conventions to which Israel is a signatory and according
to Israeli law.”
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