הוועד הציבורי נגד עינויים בישראל

The report, published this morning, reveals the widespread phenomenon of violence against bound Palestinian detainees by IDF soldiers and the almost absolute indifference of the IDF, the Ministry of Defense and the Knesset towards the existence of this phenomenon and the need to take action in order to eradicate it completely.

Following the new publication of PCATI: "No Defence: Soldier Violence against Palestinian Detainees" MK Zehava Gal’on submitted a parliamentary question to the Minister of Defense on the subject.

Document written by Louis Frankenthaler, Development & International Outreach Director of PCATI, regarding PCATI's newest report on soldier violence, “No Defense: Soldier Violence against Palestinian Detainees”.

Following the indictments filed on 7.8.08, in the Ni’lin shooting affair, the Palestinian victim and four Israeli human rights organizations demanded that the military Judge Advocate General suspend legal proceedings against both the lieutenant colonel involved and the soldier who fired the shot. The delay will enable the organizations to examine and consider challenging the decision to charge the two with the relatively light offense of “inappropriate conduct”.

The day the petition was filed, HCJ Justice Ayala Procaccia issued an interim injunction restraining the military prosecutor from proceeding in the case against the Lt. Col. Borberg and the soldier who fired the shot in Ni'lin and issued an order nisi demanding the State to submit within 21 days its response explaining the nature of the indictment. A hearing on the petition will be held before the end September.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009: Nine human rights organizations petitioned Israel's Supreme Court today demanding that Israel stop the collapse of Gaza's sewage and water system, a collapse caused by the military operation and by a 14-month policy of systematically blocking fuel supplies necessary to generate electricity

Israeli Supreme Court Orders State to Explain Gaza Civilian Policy:

1. Why Not Permitting Evacuation of Wounded

On January 20, 2009, eight human rights NGOs – the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Bimkom, B'Tselem, Gisha, Hamoked Center for Defense of the Individual, the Public Committee Against Torture in Isael, Yesh Din, and Physicians for Human Rights, sent a letter to the Attorney General demanding the establishment of an independent mechanism to investigate the killing and injuring of civilians during the fighting in Gaza, in cases in which there is a strong suspicion that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) committed serious breaches of the humanitarian law.

Seven Israeli Human Rights Organizations:
Israel held many Gaza prisoners in harsh and humiliating conditions and threatened their lives and their health

The only way to investigate violations of human rights committed in Gaza is by establishing an external, extra-military investigation mechanism.

Israeli Human Rights organizations respond to UN Report on Gaza:
Without an extra-military objective investigation, international bodies will continue to investigate Israel

A variety of agencies in Israel – chief among them the GSS and the IDF – shackle detainees in painful ways that amount to torture and ill treatment.This is done in violation of Israeli law, basic moral principles and international law, including international human rights conventions  signed by Israel. The primary victims of this practice are Palestinian ‘security’ detainees.

Seven human rights organizations based in Israel presented a report to the UN Fact-Finding team investigating allegations of war crimes during “Operation Cast Lead” in Gaza, led by Justice Richard Goldstone.

The Israeli High Court of Justice ruled today in favor of changing the indictments filed against the soldier and commander who were involved in the shooting of a handcuffed detainee in Ni’lin.

PCATI Attorney Majd Bader was invited to the United Nations in Geneva to testify before the Goldstone Commission.

Ten human rights and social change organizations in Israel have publicly declared support for the organization "Breaking the Silence" (Shovrim Shtika).

An Article from YNET news website about PCATI's new report.

Two articles by Amira Hass from Ha'aretz newspaper, based on testimonies and affidavits collected by PCATI.

PCATI attorney Samah Elkhatib-Ayoub testified on 9 August 2009 in Amman before the UN Special Committee to Investigte Israeli Practices affecting Human Rights of the Palestinian People and other Arabs of the Occupied Territories.

With the publication of the Goldstone Committee report today, human rights organizations in Israel are studying the report and its conclusions, and they call upon the Israeli Government to take the report seriously and to refrain from automatically rejecting its findings or denying its legitimacy.

A global coalition of civil society organizations, ncluding PCATI, have urged members of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to support the recommendations of the Goldstone Report...

Following a petition filed by the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) to the High court of Justice, the State announced this week that it has begun building a new detention complex next to the Ofer Camp military courts (near Ramallah) that will replace the present facility.

PCATI released today a new report which exposes the shifts in Israel's combat doctrine as evidenced in the prosecution of operation "Cast Lead" and from numerous public oral and written statements made by high ranking military officers and senior Israeli Government officials. 

The army's policy change is the result of PCATI's long-term legal and
public advocacy efforts against IDF use of paiful shackling methods
against detainees arrested in the Palestinian Territory. 

PCATI and Adalah's New Report on Treatment of Palestinian (Gazan) Detainees during Cast Lead:Torture, Ill Treatment and Human Shields
A Special Report on "Cast Lead": Israel Used Palestinian Detainees as Human Shields
Testimonies Gathered by the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel and by Adalah Reveal that the Israeli Army Deliberately Violated Palestinian Detainees' Rights through "Legal Black Holes"

The human rights organizations – the Association for Civil Rights in
Israel (ACRI), B’Tselem, Gisha, Public Committee against Torture in
Israel (PCATI), Yesh Din, Hamoked: Center for Defense of the Individual,
Adalah, Rabbis for Human Rights, Physicians for Human Rights Israel,
and Breaking the Silence – have appealed to the Attorney General
immediately following Operation Cast Lead, calling on him to investigate
allegations regarding violations of the laws of war during the
operation.