Organization: Queen's University at Kingston
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 13:32:02 EST
From: Andy <2893684@QUCDN.QueensU.CA>
Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish
Subject:    Torture in Israel


The Other Israel #47
  Torture and the law

  ...Bypassers on Jerusalem's crowded Jaffa Street
encountered a group of young men and women with their heads
covered with sacks and their hands tied. It was an action
organised by the "Public Committee Against Torture" in order to
show the public what is going on behind the walls of the nearby
"Russian Compound" - headquarters of the Jerusalem Police and
seat of the regional Shabak (security service) bureau. On
different days, demonstrations against prison torture also took
place in Haifa (organised there by "Peace Now") and at the
Defence Ministry in Tel-Aviv (by "Women for Political
Prisoners"). This year's "Israel Prize" ceremony was disrupted by
hecklers and demonstrators. One of the recipients of the annual
prize was former Supreme Court Judge Moshe Landau - who in 1987
headed the "Landau Commission", which was supposed to investigate
prison torture. This commission's report declared the use of
"moderate physical pressure" to be a legitimate means in the
interrogation of suspected terrorists. In a secret appendix -
accessible only to a select group of high officials - the report
also details the ways in which such physical pressure may be
applied. The "Committee Against Torture" intends to lodge an
appeal to the Supreme Court to declassify this appendix.

  The "B'tzelem" human rights organisation's recent revelations
about the practice of torture of Palestinian prisoners had
brought the Landau report back into public attention. Landau
responded by attacking "B'tzelem", as "an organisation blind to
the needs of state security. The authorities couldn't just ignore
the sudden public attention, inside and outside Israel. The three
institutions involved in the use of torture - the army, the
police and the security service - are now engaged in efforts to
shift blame upon each other. The police commander of the Russian
Compound welcomed a delegation of four Jerusalem municipal
councillors (from Ratz and the religious parties Degel Hatora and
Agudat Yisrael) to examine all parts of the facilities - all but
the Shabak section, where interrogations take place. `There I
can't enter myself, unless the Shabak invites me.' (Ha'aretz, May
24). The army announced the formation of a commission of inquiry,
headed by General Rafael Vardi, to investigate all evidence with
regard to soldiers mistreating Palestinian prisoners.

  The Shabak has disclosed that it has appointed an internal
comptroller. Since his reports, and even his name - remain
classified, it is difficult to evaluate the significance of this
innovation.

   The Knesset State Comptrollership Committee, headed by David
Libai (Labor), formed a special subcommittee on the Shabak, and
demanded that the Shabak will come to testify before it.
Meanwhile, more reports of torture continue to arrive. "B'tzelem"
researcher Bassam Id: "I visited in the East Jerusalem Musakad
Hospital a guy from Gaza, who was arrested in good medical
condition and came out half paralysed. He has reportedly been
tied to a pipe and beaten while his face was covered with a sack.
They continued beating him even after the prison doctor warned
them that he is developing signs of paralysis." (Hadashot, May
12).

  Contact: B'tzelem, 18 Keren Hayesod St., Jerusalem 92149;
phone: 02-667271; The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel,
POB 8588, Jerusalem 91083


 TORTURE AT ANSAR-2
 by Ari Shavit

 The following few lines are translated from an extensive account
by "Ha'aretz" journalist Ari Shavit, describing his recent term
of reserve service as a guard in the Gaza detention camp, Ansar-
2. It was published in Ha'aretz, on May 3.
  Ansar-2 has twelve guard towers, mine was Number 6. You sit on
top of this tower the whole night. There is a projector, but it
is rarely used, because the whole prisoner enclosure is, in any
case, lighted by a strong yellow light. (...) You come off, after
a night without any incident. You take the towel and the soap
from your tent, and go off to the showers. On the way there, you
have to pass the galvanised iron fence, marking off the
interrogations section. And then, from the other side, you hear a
scream, a hair-raising scream. What is going on there, five
meters from you? You cannot see, you can only imagine it. You do
know that from now on you will have no rest, because fifty meters
from the bed where you try to sleep, eighty meters from the mess
hall where you try to eat, human beings are screaming. They are
screaming because other human beings - who wear the same uniform
as you do - are making them scream. They are screaming because
your country - your democratic country, your Jewish country - is
making them scream, in a systematic and organised manner and in
accordance with the law.

  Shortly after the end of the Gulf War, 18-year old Lior Ovshani
was conscripted. Soon, he was ordered to pass a course of basic
training at a camp located in the Occupied Territories - and
refused to obey this order. At first, the commanding officer sent
him to another camp - also located in the Occupied Territories,
but near to the pre-'67 border. When he refused this compromise,
too, Ovshani was sentenced to 21 days' imprisonment, followed -
on his continued refusal - by a further 28 days. According to his
father, Lior decided not to serve in the Occupied Territories at
the age of 17, after he worked as a construction worker together
with Palestinian workers. At first it seemed that the military
authorities intended to break his resistance in a harsh manner.

  However, the affair got increasing public attention through an
interview in "Hadashot" newspaper. Later, Israeli television
picked up Lior Ovshani's parents at the Abie Nathan rally,
holding a sign protesting the harassment of their son. The
military authorities started to soften; Lior Ovshani's third term
was for seven days only, and - so far - there was not a fourth.
Letters of support to: Private Lior Ovshani, Military Personal
Number 5045337, Israeli Defence Forces.

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