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New Israeli Ambassador Arrives in Denmark Facing Protests
COPENHAGEN, Aug 15 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Israel's new ambassador to Denmark, former security chief Carmi Gillon, arrived here Wednesday as demonstrators converged on the Israeli embassy to protest his welcome, news agencies reported.
Around 500 people protested in front of Israel's embassy near Copenhagen, as Gillon arrived surrounded by around 300 police officers in combat gear, with attack dogs and more than 25 vehicles, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The demonstration took two stages; in the first, towards 3:30 pm (8:30 a.m. EST) Palestinians gathered holding up the Palestinian flag, and shouting hostile slogans against Israel and Gillon.
This was followed by a demonstration by mostly Danish people protesting against torture and what they see as a repressive policy by Israel.
Several human rights organizations had asked the Danish government to refuse Gillon's appointment as the new envoy after he was quoted as saying that he approved of resorting to "moderate physical pressure" against suspected Palestinian resistance activists.
The controversy prompted the government to deploy several police officers at Kastrup airport where he arrived earlier.
Some 60 police officers, dressed in combat fatigues and backed with attack dogs had been dispatched to the Israeli embassy in anticipation of the protests.
Danish Foreign Minister Mogens Lykketoft was quoted in the Jyllands-Posten newspaper Wednesday as saying that the government could not reject the appointment, as he is the "legitimate representative of that country".
Criticism of Gillon's record as former state security chief should be directed at Israel, Lykketoft said.
Gillon was in charge of the General Security Service's (GSS) headquarters between 1993 and 1996 during which he was directly involved in about 100 cases of torture of Palestinians, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch group.
And the London-based human rights group Amnesty International (AI) reminded Denmark in a press release Tuesday about its obligations under Article 6 (1) of the U.N. Convention against Torture to detain persons suspected of responsibility for torture and to make immediate inquiries into the facts surrounding that suspicion.
According to the AI report, under Gillon's GSS reign, the "moderate physical pressure" that had been sanctioned by the Israeli government for GSS interrogators to use was stepped up to "increased physical pressure" after an October 1994 bombing.
Court testimonies of GSS members told of such methods as "sleep deprivation, prolonged shackling in painful positions, hooding with filthy sacks, being forced to squat like a frog [gambaz] and violent shaking [tiltul]," the report said.
Gillon not only allowed these "interrogation techniques" to be used under his authority - several hundred Palestinians were subjected to these methods while he was head of GSS - but actually authorized the use of violent shaking even after it had resulted in the death of a detainee in April 1995, the report said.
In a Jyllands Posten interview on July 9th, Gillon apparently suggested that torture methods would be reintroduced when he said, "Now it looks as though we have to use [techniques of physical pressure] again and I am sorry about that." The AI report also said that Gillon has not hidden from the Danish media his direct involvement with the 100 cases of torture of Palestinians.
Aside from the U.N. Convention against Torture, other conventions and statutes that Denmark has also ratified do not provide any basis for the diplomatic immunity that might shield Gillon in Copenhagen, the report continued.
AI asked that if Gillon has been granted diplomatic immunity upon his arrival, the Danish government should conduct an investigation into the torture claims as soon as possible, and that if sufficient evidence warrants it, "a prosecution should be permitted to proceed."
Meanwhile, Israeli radio reported Wednesday that Danish police would be out in force to deal with possible demonstrations timed for Gillon's arrival, said the Israeli daily Ha'aretz.
Gillon made no comments upon his arrival in Copenhagen and was rushed out of the airport under tight security, according to the Jerusalem Post.
Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Michael Melchior, who hails from Denmark, told Israeli radio that Gillon's interview in which he appeared to be advocating the reintroduction of torture had clearly been a "slip of the tongue".
Ha'aretz reported Wednesday in its print edition that if there were any chance Gillon might be arrested, he would not be going to Denmark. "We didn't take any chances," said a senior Israeli official.
Earlier in July, Israel's foreign ministry warned former army and security officials to avoid countries where they could find themselves in "embarrassing" situations.
The warning came as Israel studied criminal laws across Europe to see which nations are most likely to launch human rights trials, while Belgium considered charging Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon with war crimes for his responsibility in the 1982 massacres of Palestinians in two Lebanese refugee camps.
Israeli government officials are concerned that the lawsuit could spawn attempts to bring war crimes charges against the chief of staff of Israel's armed forces, Shaul Mofaz, the commander of the air force, Dan Hilutz, and other military officials, over the present conflict with the Palestinians.
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