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Israel Tortures Detained Palestinians: Israeli Rights Group
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Israeli
interrogation methods included breaking prisoners' toes
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OCCUPIED
JERUSALEM, April 6 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Israel has
tortured Palestinian prisoners in a detention camp near the West Bank
village of Beituniya near Ramallah, an Israeli human rights group said
Friday.
The
group B'Tselem said in a statement that Israeli interrogation methods
included breaking prisoners' toes, citing an Israeli inside the
prison, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The
Israeli government had no immediate response. Around 1,500
Palestinians have been detained by the army in a week-long military
offensive on the West Bank where the Israelis have seized six of the
eight major cities or towns and launched house-to-house sweeps.
The
report also said that Israel was barring Palestinian prisoners from
meeting with attorneys. In 1999, Israel's high court banned the
use of torture by Israeli security forces.
According
to U.S. daily newspaper the Washington Post, the detainees have also
been prohibited from meeting with their lawyers, the report
said.
When
contacted by the Washington Post, the Israeli occupation army denied
the charges and referred the reporters to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon’s office for comments. That office declined to comment, the
paper said.
“Israel
has long used torture against Palestinian prisoners, but an Israeli
Supreme Court ruling in September 1999 specifically outlawed most
methods being used, except in emergencies in which civilian lives were
at stake. Lior Yavne, a spokesman for B'Tselem, said breaking of toes
was outlawed under most laws and conventions,” reported the Post.
The
paper added that many of those detained have been released after a few
days of interrogation, once the military investigators determine the
detainees are not suspects in attacks on Israelis.
“Some
Palestinians detained during this week's incursion into Ramallah have
complained of mistreatment, including having their identification
cards taken by the soldiers. A Palestinian without a card becomes a
virtual criminal in the occupied territories and is subject to arrest
at any time,” it said.
On
its website on April 1st, B’Tselem published a statement calling the
Israeli occupation army to allow its fieldworker to enter Ramallah and
carry out his work.
The
group said that the presence of human rights workers in the field
gathering information is of particular importance.
In
another report, the group presented a break down on the fatalities in
the al Aqsa intifada from September 29 to March 30th.
“Nearly
823 Palestinian civilians were killed by Israeli security forces'
gunfire in the Occupied Territories, of whom 192 were minors under the
age of 18.
“At
least 58 of the civilians killed were extra judicially executed by
Israel. In the course of these assassinations 14 additional civilians
were killed.
“222
Palestinian security forces personnel were killed by Israeli security
forces' gunfire, including One minor age 17. One of them was extra
judicially executed by Israel and three were killed during
assassinations of Palestinian civilians.
The
group added that many Palestinians harmed by movement restrictions
were people who required medical treatment.
”Israeli
officials have repeatedly stated that emergency medical cases are
allowed to cross at checkpoints. The reality is different. The sick
are often prevented from moving along the roadways, both by physical
obstacles (such as concrete blocks and piles of dirt) and by soldiers
at checkpoints,” said the group.
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