13.04.2008, Israel, PCATI
New Report by the Public Committee
Against torture in Israel (PCATI) to be launched today in the Knesset
Constitution, Law and Justice Committee:
The GSS illegally exploits family members causing severe harm to detainees and their families
The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel’s report published
today reveals that Israel’s General Security Service (GSS)
exploits family members of Palestinian detainees in order to apply
illegal psychological pressure on them and to force them to confess.
Demonstrating a heightened level of concern surrounding the findings of
the report, which show the continued use of interrogation methods that
have been condemned as torture or ill treatment under international
law, Knesset Constitution Law and Justice Committee Chairperson,
Professor Menachem Ben Sasson, has agreed to PCATI’s request to
discuss the report in a special committee session, today at 13:30 in
the Knesset. The extraordinary nature of this act is further
demonstrated by Professor Ben Sasson’s calling on the GSS to
respond to the report during the hearing.
The illegal exploitation of family members, who, in most instances, are
not suspects themselves, has on many occasions caused severe
psychological suffering to interrogees and to their innocent relatives.
In more extreme cases, this method takes the form of psychological
torture of a detainee rendering him a victim of a cruel psychological
manipulation via the illegal exploitation of a close relative. In one
such case, detailed in the report, the pressure caused by this form of
abuse led the detainee to attempt suicide on several occasions.
The report “Family Matters, Using Family Members to Pressure
Detainees Under GSS Interrogation”, written by Attorney Aviel
Liner, details a sampling of six cases involving the exploitation of
family members. Some of the cases describe a “charade”
presented before the detainee showing him that his loved ones are under
detention and, like the interrogee, undergoing severe physical torture.
In other cases, family members were, in fact, arrested and sometimes
tortured, although they were not suspected of any offence whatsoever,
all for the purpose of applying pressure on a relative undergoing
interrogation. One of the cases outlined in the report concerns a
detained couple held for an extended period of time, subjected to
severe physical torture, and, in addition, refused knowledge of the
fate of their young daughters, aged two and a half and 6 months, who
were used as bargaining chips by the GSS.
The report reveals that torture in the State of Israel – both
physical and psychological – continues even after the High Court
of Justice ruling of 1999. PCATI emphasizes in the report that, even if
severe suspicions exist against an interrogee, the use of family
members as a form of pressure must be prohibited. The exploitation of
family members and the psychological abuse of an interrogee and his
family are forbidden and unacceptable in a democratic society based on
the rule of law and the values of human dignity. Moreover, an
interrogation that employs such harsh and illegal means raises doubts
as to the accuracy of the confessions and information received from the
detainee.
In July 2007, following a complaint submitted by PCATI the Attorney
General's office replied and stated that “…as a rule, in a
situation where the detainee’s relative is not in detention, and
there is no legal pretext for detaining him, it is prohibited to
present the detainee with a scenario according to which it appears that
his relative is in detention,” seemingly banning this practice.
In spite of this, PCATI has found that the practice of detaining family
members in order to use them against detainees under interrogation
continues.
The report concludes with recommendations concerning both legislation
and the supervision of the GSS that will contribute to preventing the
use of this deplorable method.
For additional details please call:
Yoav Loeff, Public Outreach Coordinator
The Public Committee Against torture in Israel (PCATI)
Tel: +972-2-6429825 ext. 117, Mobile: +972-54-3368434
yoav@stoptorture.org.il
PCATI website: http://www.stoptorture.org.il
Cooperator
World Coalition Against Torturers (WCAT)
Project Management
Bianca Schmolze
Bianca Schmolze
has a Master of Business Administration and works for the Medical Care
Service for Refugees since 2002. After serving as a fundraiser, she
became responsible coordinator of the "Justice heals" campaign in 2004.
Furthermore, she has a mandate in the city council of Bochum.
Tel.: +49-(0)234-9041380
Fax: +49-(0)234-9041381
(Thursday and Friday, 10.00–18.00 Uhr)
Supported by
Manfred
Nowak,
UN Special Rapporteur on Torture