The torture methods that do not require special approval, termed moderate physical pressure, include tying up prisoners in twisted positions for up to five days continuously, sleep deprivation, covering detainees heads with filthy cloth sacks for days, light body-shaking, and keeping the prisoner in a small windowless cell for weeks with music blaring 24 hours a day. Israeli attorneys confirm that nearly every Palestinian who is interrogated is tortured in this manner. Judges routinely permit this torture by extending the interrogation period and not prohibiting torture. A normal interrogation period is at least one month and is generally extended for an additional 30 days. More intense torture methods such as hanging for long periods in contorted positions which causes permanent internal organ and joint damage and severe body-shaking, which caused the death of one Palestinian detainee last year, require the approval of the head of the secret police.
Permission is generally given, say attorneys.
In order to stop the torture, the handful of Israeli attorneys representing Palestinian prisoners must appeal to the Israeli High Court, where their petitions generally are rejected. Israeli attorney Allegra Pacheco, who previously practiced law in the United States, pointed out that with Palestinians, there is no presumption of innocence and that they have no right to remain silent. If a Palestinian detainee keeps silent during interrogation, the judge uses that as a justification to extend the interrogation period, which can last up to three months. If interrogators come up with nothing as they often do they then place detainees in administrative detention and hold them without charge or trial for up to a year or more, said Pacheco, who added that coerced confessions can indeed be used in Israeli courts. I am constantly presenting appeals to prohibit continued torture, said Pacheco.