Israeli interrogators torture Palestinian detainee
24 April 2001
Israeli Shabak (the Israeli General Security Apparatus)
interrogators used torture against Mohammad Faraj Allah, a Palestinian
detainee at Asqalan prison. The detainee is 51 years old and lives
at Ithna in the district of Hebron. Faraj Allah told LAW Society’s
lawyer Labib Habib during a visit to Asqalan prison on Monday 23 April
2001 that he had undergone interrogation for three days from the first
day of his arrest. He had been subjected to beating and sleep deprivation
(only allowed to sleep six hours in three days) until he passed out
and was taken to hospital. After treatment, the prisoner was interrogated
from 10 am to 4 am for three weeks. Faraj Allah was arrested on 24
March 2001 while driving his children to school. He was attacked by
seventy members of the Israeli Special Forces, who fired on his car
despite the fact that he did not resist arrest. He was severely beaten
by the Israeli Special Forces during the arrest; suffering a head
wound that required seven stitches, and three broken ribs. Faraj Allah
added that the Israeli interrogators photographed him inside a well-furnished
room with someone handing him a present so that people would think
he was a collaborator. When Faraj Allah protested, he was severely
beaten. He has spent 26 days in solitary confinement since his arrest.
Faraj Allah is Fatah Secretary in Ithna. He has high blood pressure,
allergies, a kidney infection, muscle pain and rheumatism. The Israeli
Shabak has used torture against Palestinian detainees at Asqalan prison
before, such as “Shabeh,” which is painful shackling in contorted
positions for long hours, sleep deprivation, drenching in cold water,
death threats and threats of sexual abuse. Ayman El Ajluni, another
Palestinian detainees tortured at Asqalan prison, told LAW that the
Asqalan prison interrogators used torturous methods for the first
five days of his detention. During interrogation, he was forced to
sit blindfolded on a tiny chair with his hands bound behind his back.
He was prevented from sleeping, threatened with death and subjected
to abusive language. Yunis Al Atrash, a 41 year-old father of 12 also
from Hebron, told LAW’s lawyer that special Israeli forces broke into
his house in Israeli-controlled Hebron on 8 January 2001, carried
out a thorough search and took him to Asqalan prison, where Shabak
interrogators used torturous methods during the first five days of
his detention. Al Atrash was forced to sit blindfolded on a tiny chair
with his hands bound behind his back, drenched in icy water and subjected
to abusive language. On 15 January 2001, LAW learnt from the office
of the Israeli Attorney General that an investigation into allegations
of torture brought forward by Rami Iz'oul, an 18 year-old Palestinian
detainee, would not be carried out, under the pretext that it was
not a matter of "public interest". The Israeli Attorney’s letter came
in response to a complaint filed by LAW, through attorney Labib Habib,
with the Department for Investigation of Police Misconduct on 3 December
2000. LAW had demanded an investigation into Iz'oul ’s interrogation.
Rami Iz'oul was arrested by Israeli soldiers from his home in the
West Bank village of Husan near Bethlehem on 30 October 2000 and has
been in detention ever since. Iz'oul claims that he was beaten and
had ice cold water poured over his head during interrogation. Due
to the torture, Iz'oul was hospitalized for one night in Jerusalem’s
Hadassa hospital. The 18 year-old reported that after being discharged
from the hospital he was beaten again and threatened into signing
a false confession. On 6 September 1999, the Israeli High Court issued
a judgment outlawing specific interrogation methods amounting to torture.
The High Court further stated that a reasonable interrogation was
necessarily one free of torture, cruel and inhuman treatment. The
Court highlighted that "brutal and inhuman means" were prohibited
during interrogation and that human dignity includes the dignity of
the suspect being interrogated. LAW believes that the practices used
during the interrogation of Rami Iz'oul amount to "brutal and inhuman
means" and are therefore in contradiction of the High Court ruling
of 6 September 1999. For this reason, LAW maintains that an investigation
into the allegations of torture brought forward by Rami Iz'oul is
of the utmost importance and will further pursue the issue with the
Israeli State Prosecutor's Office. LAW is concerned that if a proper
investigation into the case is not carried out, Israeli interrogators
will see it as a signal that acts of torture and ill treatment will
go unpunished. Under international law, interrogation methods that
constitute torture or ill treatment are absolutely prohibited and
subject to universal jurisdiction.