PRESS RELEASE

RELEASED @ 13 January 1998

The Israeli High Court Legalizes Torture

The Israeli High Court (IHC) once again ruled to allow GSS (General Security Service) interrogators to be able to use torture methods against Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons.

On 12 January 1988 the IHC reviewed an appeal submitted on behalf of Abdel Rahman Ghunimat which called for a stop to the use of torture methods upon him. Ghunimat, a Palestinian from a village near Hebron, is accused of beinga member of the military wing of Hamas.

The Court was unexpectedly composed of nine judges. After convening to review the appeal, the IHC decided to allow GSS personnel to continue to use torture methods upon Ghunimat. The decision, made by the bare minimum of five judges, sanctioned the continued use of such torture methods as al-shabeh (contorting the prisoner into painful positions), sleep deprivation, noise exposure, hooding, and the use of violent shaking (which resulted in the death of another prisoner, Abdel Sammad Hurizat, on 25 April 1995).

The legalization of torture in Israel – the shielding of an official and systematic policy under legal cover – is hardly a new matter. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), as well as other human rights organizations have issued numerous press releases concerning such practices.

What is novel in this case, however, is that, this time, the IHC was composed of nine judges. Moreover, the decision just barely passed. This may reflect the seriousness of the appeal. Ultimately, however, the IHC ruled to reaffirm an Israeli policy of torture, one given firm legal basis.

The IHC decision is criminal and reprehensible. It only displays the extent of the Israeli legal institution’s imprisonment to the imperatives of the GSS and the Israeli security apparatus. Israel is the only country in the world that provides legal cover for torture. While most democracies have at least made the show of outlawing the use of torture, the IHC has moved to reaffirm the place of torture in Israeli policy.

The IHC decision is a flagrant violation of the principles of international law and human rights. The Fourth Geneva Convention in 1949 absolutely banned the use of torture. It regarded torture as a war crime and stipulated that perpetrators be punished as such. The 1984 UN Convention against Torture, of which Israel was a signatory, stipulated, in Article 2.1, that “…”.

The Israeli government usually justifies its use of torture on security grounds, citing that such practices are really preventive, and that information obtained after “moderate physical pressure” may save lives. This claim has absolutely no validity, legally or in practice. The Convention against Torture, in Article 2.2, stated, “…”.

The IHC decision comes at a time when the Israelis should, according to the peace agreement and in the spirit of the process, be working on confidence-building measures. The PCHR considers the IHC decision as internationally illegal and highly dangerous. The PCHR categorically condemns the decision. Steps must be taken to counteract the IHC ruling. Appeals are in order to 1) the international community, international/human rights organizations, and the individual; 2) the signatory nations to the Fourth Geneva Convention (which meets next February); and 3) world powers, especially Western democracies, who are empowered to desist support of Israel until it complies with international law, issue a condemnation of its torture practices, and call for a reversal to the IHC decision.

To condemn the recent IHC decision, please contact one or more of the following:

Benjamin Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister

Fax #: 03-6917915

Yizhak Mordechai

Minister of Defense

Fax #: 03-6976218

Tzachi Hanegbi

Minister of Justice

Fax #: 02-6285438

Judge Aharon Barak

Chief Justice of the Israeli High Court

Fax #: 02-6759648