Human rights association cites torture practices against Marwan Barghouti
Palestine-Israel, Politics, 5/23/2002

LAW, a Palestinian non-governmental organization society for the protection of human rights and the environment said Marwan Barghouti, member of the Palestinian Legislative Council detained by Israel, has been tortured by Israelis.

The association, which has visited Barghouti, said the man was taken to the prison clinic. He suffers from pain in his back and hands, caused by position abuse. Barghouti's hands and legs are shackled to a small chair, angled to slant forward so that he cannot sit in a stable position. Due to nails sticking out of the chair on which is he is forced to sit for prolonged hours his back is bleeding. This position abuse, also known as 'shabeh' is the most common method of physical abuse applied by the Israeli General Security Service ('Shin Bet').

Acccording to LAW, Barghouti is held in solitary confinement and is deprived of sleep for twenty hours a day since he was transferred to the Russian Compound. LAW says abusive body positioning, and sleep deprivation are common tactics used by the Israeli General Security Service, for they undermine a detainee's concentration and self-control.

In a press release issued Tuesday, LAW says "Israel is a signatory to the key human rights covenants that address torture and ill-treatment, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (article 7) and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Israel is therefore legally bound by these prohibitions.

Likewise, the association says, Israeli law prohibits torture and the introduction into evidence of tainted confessions and provides that public servants who use or direct the use of force against persons for the purpose of extorting a confession of an offense or information relating to an offense are liable to imprisonment.

Barghouti told LAW that his interrogators have threatened him by saying that his son is held in detention in Ashkelon and that they are going to kill him. They have also threatened him with unspecified abuses by saying that they will use a 'new strategy' and that they will kill him politically and physically. They also told him that there was a decision from the Prime Minister that he has to confess. They also told him that they will put more pressure on him and that they will make him appear as a "terrorist."

LAW argues that this kind of threats against Palestinian detainees are routine and are practiced with apparent impunity, despite their illegal nature.

On Sunday, May 19, 2002, the military court in the illegal settlement of Beit El, extended Barghouti's detention with twelve days. Barghouti was arrested in Ramallah by Israeli occupation forces on April 13 and taken to the interrogation and detention center at the Russian Compound ('Moscowbiya'). Since then, Barghouti is being interrogated by the Israeli General Security Service.

Previous Stories:
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  Saadat isolated at the Israeli request   (5/22/2002)
  Palestinian authority imposes home arrest on Abu Ein for hosting Barghouthi   (5/22/2002)
  Israeli forces break into Toulkarem, continue to build cement wall between the West Bank, the 1948 territories   (5/21/2002)
  Israeli human rights organization considers settlements illegal   (5/15/2002)
  Amnesty International: Israeli occupation forces torture and mistreats Palestinians   (5/14/2002)

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