Israel's Supreme Court on Thursday issued a ruling allowing Shin Bet interrogators to use harsh torture methods against Palestinian detainees

The Palestinian Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Commission said in a statement that the ruling, made by a three-justice panel of Yitzhak Amit, David Mintz and Yosef Elron, approves the use of torture in "exceptional cases".

However, the statement added, based on the testimonies of many Palestinian prisoners, the Shin Bet interrogators use unlawful methods of torture routinely against all Palestinian prisoners without exceptions.

The commission affirmed that dozens of Palestinian prisoners have died under torture while in Israeli custody.

The ruling was made following a petition filed by the Palestinian ex-prisoner Feras Tbeish who was subjected to harsh torture during his detention on charges of being a member of Hamas and storing weapons for the resistance group.

Tbeish had filed a complaint against Israeli officers from the Shin Bet intelligence agency saying that they forced him into stress positions, including arching and tying the body in the "banana" position. They also subjected him to severe physical and mental violence, including beatings and threats.

The Detainees and Ex-Detainees Commission said that the Supreme Court justices refused to re-open an investigation into the torture of Tbeish claiming that what had happened to him could not be proved, even though Tbeish provided the court with medical reports confirming that he was brutally tortured during his detention.

Israel's Haaretz newspaper on Friday quoted senior legal experts as saying that the Supreme Court has the right to legitimize the use of "special methods" of torture against Palestinian prisoners.

 

Source: The Palestinian Information Center