Torturing prisoners

On June 15, 2016, Israeli forces arrested Mohammed El-Halabi, the director of the Gaza branch of World Vision, a Christian humanitarian aid organisation. Mohammed was accused of funnelling money from World Vision to resistance groups in Gaza. Probes conducted both by World Vision and the Australian government found no evidence of any diversion or misuse of funds. Mohammed was nevertheless subjected to 52 days of interrogation and torture. His father, Khalil El-Halabi, testified to the torture his son endured during those months in detention: “Israeli intelligence officers placed a filthy bag over his head and hanged him from the ceiling for prolonged periods.”

Mohammed was also subjected to sleep deprivation and frequently physically assaulted by the Israeli officers who slapped him, “kicked him, especially in his genitals, and then strangled him until he felt that he was about to die … At times, they placed him in a small room and played extremely loud music until the pain in his ears became unbearable. In the summer, they would strip him naked, and then blast him with flashes of hot air. They would repeat the same process in the winter, but with cold air, instead.” More than five years later, Mohammed remains in Israeli detention.

For Palestinian detainees in Israel, these experiences are unfortunately far from rare. On the 37th anniversary of the United Nations drafting of the Convention Against Torture (UNCAT), the international community must demand an end to the continuing systemic torture of Palestinian detainees by Israel.

The UNCAT was implemented on June 26, 1987, and ratified by Israel on October 3, 1991. Israel’s participation might seem surprising in light of the numerous human rights violations it has been accused of during the last few decades, including the use of torture, by well-respected human rights organisations, such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Until 1999, torture was considered a legal means of extracting confessions in Israel, especially for Palestinian ‘security’ detainees. However, once it was made illegal by Israel’s Supreme Court, the Israeli attorney general promised to protect any interrogator who continues to use ‘special means’.

And indeed, special means continued to be employed as Israel made broad exceptions to this law, most notably in what they call ‘ticking bomb’ scenarios. According to Amnesty International, “Shin Bet operatives have tortured hundreds of Palestinians, citing the ‘ticking bomb’ scenario.” Not only do these exceptions allow these egregious, yet routine practices to continue without consequence, but they directly violate Article 2 of the Convention. Article 2, section 2, states, “No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture.” Israel has been criticised by the UN Committee Against Torture for its failure to meet this fixed standard.

Excerpted: ‘When will Israel stop torturing Palestinian prisoners?’

Courtesy: Aljazeera.com