הוועד הציבורי נגד עינויים בישראל

On 24 October 2007, PCATI attorneys Samah Elkhatib-Ayoub and Tahreer Atamaleh Mahana submitted a pre-petition letter to Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert seeking administrative remedies, regarding the painful handcuffing of detainees during interrogation by the General Security Service (GSS). The GSS interrogators are in the habit of handcuffing the hands of interrogees behind their back for the duration of their interrogation. This form of handcuffing causes both pain and humiliation. The GSS has no authority to handcuff detainees in a manner that causes pain during interrogation and, a practice that is contrary to both Israeli and international law.

The letter is based on 137 sworn statements given by detainees in 2006-2007 who complained about the way they were handcuffed. Their cases are listed in a table annexed to the letter and in a table of statistics.

The painful handcuffing behind the back of detainees in interrogation for extended periods of time is a blatant violation of a detainee’s right to dignity and physical and psychological integrity. This violation is carried out without legal authority and, the Prime Minister was, therefore, asked to immediately forbid GSS interrogators from restraining detainees in this manner during their interrogation.

In limited cases, when the law does allow the restraint of a detainee, GSS interrogators must be ordered to employ only those methods that do not exceed the requirements of the specific situation. The Prime Minister was, therefore, also asked to limit the form and frequency of the use of these forms of restraint and to guarantee that the aim of the restraint is appropriate to the situation. In order to achieve this aim, guidelines and regulations must be set and published.

PCATI intends to petition the High Court of Justice against the use of painful handcuffing in GSS interrogation if the Prime Minister does not inform us within 45 days of receiving the above letter that the use of painful handcuffing, and particularly handcuffing behind a detainee’s back, in GSS interrogations will be banned and that guidelines will be published defining the purpose of restraint, the methods that may be used, the extent of time the restraint may be employed and what alternatives will be made available in order to lessen the harm to detainees to the necessary minimum.

 On 27 January 2008 PCATI received a reply from the Prime Minister's Military Secretary to its pre-petition letter:
 
"...the issue was examined in light of the claims raised in your letter. In the framework of this examination it was decided to ease the detainees' situation by
extending the chain so that it will be possible for a detainee to place his hands at the side of his body in a more comfortable way, and this without endangering the security of the interrogators or increasing the chance that the detainee will escape from custody".