Torture and Ill-Treatment in GSS interrogations after the High Court of Justice Ruling:
The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) report, made public on the second anniversary of the High Court of Justice ruling prohibiting the use of torture in interrogation reveals that the ruling left many open breaches which make it possible for torture and ill treatment endured by hundreds of Palestinian detainees to continue in General Security Service (GSS) interrogations.
The report is based on dozens of sworn affidavits of Palestinians who were interrogated following the September 6, 1999 High Court of Justice ruling. The report points to the fact that the high Court did nothing to change judicial and moral concepts by which an interrogator may consider using torture as a legitimate option, and even provided the GSS with a practical means such as sleep prevention and prolonged tying, allowing interrogators to continue to use the violent methods they had used in the past.
The GSS and those appointed to supervise its actions have not relinquished the belief that the most efficient way of extracting information or a confession from a detainee is by causing physical and psychological anguish, exhaustion and humiliation. As a result "the protective wall the High Court built for the purpose of defending the fundamental rights of Palestinian detainees has not proved to be efficient to a sufficient degree".
The report published in September 2001, two years after the High Court of Justice ruling reveals the following:
- Every month, dozens of Palestinians undergoing interrogation by the GSS are subjected, in some way, to torture and ill treatment. This includes isolation from the outside world and the various methods used in interrogation chambers and solitary confinement.
- Ill-treatment of Palestinian detainees begins by depriving them of their right to contact with the outside world, particularly with their attorneys, the International Red Cross and their families for a period ranging from days to weeks.
- The methods of torture and ill treatment used in interrogation units include:
- Routine methods such as sleep prevention, tying to a chair in painful positions, beating, slapping, kicking, threats, verbal abuse and humiliation.
- Unusual methods include bending the body in extremely painful positions, intentional tightening of the handcuffs, stepping on manacles, application of pressure to different parts of the body, forcing the detainee to squat in a painful position ("Kambaz"), choking and other forms of violence and humiliation (pulling out hair, spitting etc.).
- Torture and ill treatment in solitary confinement include sleep prevention, exposure to extreme heat and cold, continuous exposure to artificial light, confinement in inhuman conditions.
The report also reveals that a GSS agent who is professionally supervised by the State Attorney's office and the State Attorney investigates complaints by detainees about their interrogation. The investigator is, therefore, investigating both his colleagues and the detainee. As a result of this method of inquiry, not a single GSS interrogator has been brought to justice since the investigations of complaints against the GSS were transferred to the State Attorney's office in 1994.
On the other hand, the report does state that the High Court of Justice ruling, did bring about a meaningful change, particularly in the almost complete disappearance of some of the methods of torture permitted by the Landau Committee such as "shaking", covering the detainee's head with a sack, exposure to loud music and tying to a small slanting chair.
The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel recommends that the authorities in Israel fully implement the orders set by international law, Israeli law and the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Freedom as relating to the treatment of detainees and prisoners. The report recommends that Israeli authorities pass legislation and change the official policy according to standards mandated by the above laws such as absolutely prohibiting torture by law (as defined by the UN Convention against Torture), absolutely prohibiting by law any ill treatment, inhuman or humiliating behavior and making it clear through legislation that expressions such as "need" or "justification" do not apply to those practicing torture and ill treatment. The report further recommends initiating the legal steps necessary to open the country to UN committees and experts, inviting the special UN Rapporteur on torture to visit the country, opening before him all detention centers and interrogation facilities and allowing him to freely speak with any detainee he so wishes to speak with, ordering the GSS to immediately stop using all forms of torture and ill treatment and to, instead, carry out its duties by way of a "reasonable interrogation" as defined by the High Court of Justice ruling with no recourse to sleep prevention or tying in the interrogation chamber, to ensure that GSS interrogators are retrained not to use violent humiliating methods of interrogation but rather employ more human methods, to abolish the position of GSS complaints investigator ("Mavtan") in the State Attorney's office and replace it with a position filled by an independent person and more.
