January 13 1998

On Sunday 11 January in an exceptional nine judge panel hearing, the Israeli High Court again postponed coming to a decision barring the use of torture in Israeli prisons, after hearing a case last Wednesday submitted by the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI).

The Court heard the cases of Fuad Awad Qur'an, held incommunicado since 10 December 1997, and of Abd al Rahman Ismail Ghanimat, held and interrogated since 13 November 1997. Lawyers for PCATI stated that hooding, handcuffing in painful positions on a very small slanted stool, sleep deprivation and constant blaring music for prolonged periods sometimes up to five days constituted torture, forbidden by international law, and are methods used to extract confessions. In December, the Israeli intelligence services admitted to routinely using these methods during interrogation, but said that these methods are used for administrative purposes. Hooding and blaring music, for example, prevents detainees from speaking to each other. It should be noted here that the Israeli intelligence has stated that neither Ghanimat nor Qur'an are considered so-called "ticking bombs".

In its decision the nine-judge panel, in a 5-4 vote, refused to give a temporary injunction against the use of torture during the ongoing interrogation of Ghanimat and Qur'an, and decided to join two other outstanding cases on torture (including head shaking, which last resulted in the death of a Palestinian detainee in 1995) and to rule later on its general use. Chief Justice Barak voted in the dissent, to issue the temporary injunction against the use of torture.

LAW believes this constitutes a critical landmark case concerning the use of torture in Israeli prisons. LAW calls on the international community to react immediately at this crucial junction, to condemn the use of torture, to urge the Israeli government to desist from this practice and for the Israeli High Court to forbid its use at any point and for any reason in the future. Write to: Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu (972) (2) 566 4838, Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai (972) (3) 691 6940, Chief Justice Aharon Barak (972) (2)675 9648, and the State Attorney General's office (972) (2) 6708655. Electronic mail to: Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu: pm@pmo.gov.il, Michael Stoltz, Office of the Prime Minister: mstoltz@pmo.gov.il or feedback@pmo.gov.il, and the Israeli Government Press Office: gpo@pmo.gov.il, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs: ask@israel-info.gov.il.