From: backon@vms.huji.ac.il
Newsgroups: soc.culture.arabic,soc.culture.lebanon,talk.politics.mideast
Subject: Re: Israelis Torture Arabs??????
Date: 16 Apr 92 22:53:59 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

In article <204986@unix.cis.pitt.edu>, abas@unix.cis.pitt.edu (The_Equalizer) writes:
>
>
>
>                 Israelis Routinely Torture Arabs, Study Says.
>
>
>  Jerusalem- Systematic torture has become so routine in Israeli jails that
> Palestinian prisoners "hardly bother to complain about these methods anymore,"
> a prominent Israeli human rights group said.


As a doctor, I'm violently opposed to any torture. In September 1990, our
Israeli Army medical unit was on reserve duty at the Ketziot prison in the
Negev desert. I have a number of complaints:
1) our food was WORSE than the food served prisoners;
2) our ping pong table was broken whereas the prisoners had two tables per
block;
3) we had a tiny, broken black and white television whereas the prisoners
got a giant screen color TV;

As long as I live I'll never forget the sight of one prisoner: Rayban
sunglasses, cold drink in one hand and ping pong racket in the other, basking
in the sun.

In all seriousness, I and others NEVER saw ANY signs of torture. The only
torture was carried out by rival Palestinian groups on each other. The only
screams at night were (how shall I put it politely) the screams of younger male
prisoners being sexually molested by their peers.

But why should the Israeli security forces use torture if an Israeli (ED)
developed the following:  Farwell LA, Donchin E. The truth will out:
Interrogative polygraphy ("lie detection") with event-related brain potentials.
Psychophysiology 1991;28:531-547 ? Note their footnote: "The research reported
here was supported in part by contract number 87F350800 with the Central
Intelligence Agency. Preliminary reports were presented at the 1986, 1988 and
1989 meetings of the Society for Psychophysiological Research."

At least the Israelis are not like the Americans. In democratic America, the US
Supreme Court can rule that it is OK to execute a 15 year old retarded Black
youth who was found guilty of murder, and can put on trial in adult court a 10
year old boy who at age 9 took his father's gun and shot a neighbor. From what
I remember reading in Time Magazine in 1988, the boy would be liable to a life
sentence in prison. Of course we all remember that incident in Philadelphia
about 12 years ago where four armed terrorists were barricaded in a deserted
apartment building and the mayor had (the National Guard ??) use a helicopter
gunship to BOMB the building !
>
>  In a follow-up report released yesterday, B'Tselem, the rights group that
> produced the original study, concluded that in the last year "there has been
> little change in the patterns of interrogation of Palestinian suspects."
>
>  It alleged that Palestinian prisoners are still routinely beaten, deprived
> of food and sleep for periods ranging up to 10 days, blindfolded or
> "hooded" with a wet sack over their heads for hours and confined for long
> periods in cramped cells with names like "the closet" or "the refrigerator."
>
 I have a terrific idea. Let's have one of these "tortured" prisoners undergo
the new method of polygraphy. Let's see who's telling the truth. If he's
telling the truth, the security officer would be severely punished. If he's
lying, he'd be severely punished.



>  The report also documents recent cases in which prisoners were burned with
> hot plates and raped with clubs.
>
As I said above, the only rapes were those carried out by fellow prisoners.
>
>  The army said yesterday that "any violence against suspects is absolutely
> forbidden" and that all cases of alleged abuse would be investigated.
> B'Tselem's report acknowledged that the army had made some improvements.
>
>

Dr. Josh Backon
Backon@VMS.HUJI.AC.IL


> --
> +=<*>=+=<*>=+=<*>=+=<*>=+=<*>=+=<*>=+=<*>=+=<*>=+=<*>=+=<*>=+=<*>=+=<*>=+=<*>=+
> +  The Equalizer          <*>  Dr. Jasem M. Alhumoud                          +
> +  abas@unix.cis.pitt.edu <*>  Civil Eng. Dept., University of Pittsburgh     +
> +=<*>=+=<*>=+=<*>=+=<*>=+=<*>=+=<*>=+=<*>=+=<*>=+=<*>=+=<*>=+=<*>=+=<*>=+=<*>=+