Israel tortures Palestinian Detainees

The Occupied Al Quds, (Jerusalem), June 24, SPA -- A report issued by
The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) disclosed
Wednesday that the Israeli occupation forces torture Palestinian
citizens during detention.

PCATI said in a report published today on the occasion of
International Day in Support of the Victims of Torture that the
occupation Israel army used to shackle detainees in the most painful
manner.

"The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) released
a major report, based on 547 cases of arrest by soldiers and dozens
of interrogations by the GSS (General Security Services) in the past
year as well as additional cases from previous years. The report
reveals that various security agencies in Israel, chief among them
the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) and the GSS, shackle detainees in
painful and humiliating manners that in a number of instances rise to
the level of torture in violation of domestic law, The High Court of
Justice judgments, international law and accepted international
standards of practice which allow for restraining for the purposes of
preventing a detainee from escaping, or endangering himself or his
surroundings. In Israel detainees are painfully shackled as a matter
of practice".

In a relating event, Palestinian sources said today that the Israeli
occupation authorities at Hadarim Detention Center refused the
treatment of Palestinian prisoners with a serious skin disease.

Israel Prison Service commonly known as "Shabas" rejected the
request by the detainees to present the medical files of Mahmoud
Al-Hajj Elsafory of Jenin camp who is sentenced to life imprisonment
since 2002 and painfully suffers from a tumor, which covers the skin
of the face and body, and distorts features of his face and poses a
danger to his life.

The sources added that the prison administration is not paying
attention to the situation of the Elsafory and did not provide him
with treatment, although the disease has distorted the features of
his face. The detainees at the Hadarim said that they were forced to
follow up the situation with a lawyer and demanded the medical file
of Elsafory to be submitted to a private doctor, but the prison
administration refused, on the basis that the applicant is not the
original lawyer.

--SPA