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Palestinian prisoners
Photo: AP
MK Ben-Sasson
Photo: Gil Yohanan
Photo: Gil Yohanan
Shin Bet head Yuval Diskin
Photo: Gil Yohanan

Report: Shin Bet uses relatives to pressure detainees

Report compiled by Public Committee Against Torture in Israel reveals Shin Bet unlawfully arrests family members of Palestinian prisoners in bid to exert psychological pressure on suspects, extract confessions

The Shin Bet is exerting severe and illegal pressure on the family members of Palestinians detainees in the course of investigations against them, in an attempt to extract confessions, the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) revealed in a report Sunday.

 

The Knesset's Constitution, Law and Justice Committee will hold a discussion on the report's findings Sunday noon.

 

According to the report, Shin Bet investigators have allegedly unlawfully arrested detainees' relatives, who were not themselves involved in any illegal activity. In at least one case, PCATI claims, this method of mentally pressuring suspects has led to several suicide attempts by one of the detainees.

 

The report, compiled by Attorney Aviel Linder, details six separate cases in which the Shin Bet practiced this method. Linder claimed that torture in Israel - both physical and psychological - is still in use despite a 1999 High Court's ruling banning it. The practice has also been barred by Attorney General Menachem Mazuz in 2007, PCATI maintained.

 

"The exploitation of family members and the psychological abuse of prisoners and their loved ones are forbidden and unacceptable in a democratic society," Aviel said. "Furthermore, using such harsh and unlawful measures in an investigation renders the confessions and information it has yielded questionable."

 

'Daily war against terror'

The report recommends tightening supervision of the Shin Bet's activities, and instituting laws against the use of these interrogation methods.

 

Chairman of the Knesset's Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, MK Prof. Menahem Ben-Sasson (Kadima), said that "it is imperative that the report's findings are heard in the committee and taken into serious consideration. I believe that the codes of behavior which the State of Israel is bound to by international treaties, must be upheld.

 

"However, we must not forget tat we are confronted with a daily war against terror. While this reality does not legitimize inflicting irreversible bodily injuries, it does force us to use other measures, which should be exercised when the situation calls for it and in a reasonable and proportional manner."

 

Shin Bet denies allegations  

The Shin bet said in response that "The report and the cases documented in it have not been submitted to the Shin Bet. The Shin operates in this field in accordance with the rules that have been sanctioned by the attorney general long ago, according to which detainees' are not made to believe that their relatives are being held in custody when this is not the case.

 

"Furthermore, prisoners' family members are not arrested when there are no suspicions against them to warrant the arrest. These principles have been made clear to the Committee Against Torture long ago. The committee's board is well aware that each complaint filed on a matter involving terror investigations is thoroughly examined under the supervision of the State's Prosecutor's Office."

 


פרסום ראשון: 04.13.08, 08:12
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