Thursday, June 26, 2008

Prisoner ministry: Israel the only country sanctioning torture under int'l cover


"GAZA, (PIC)-- The ministry of prisoner affairs stated Thursday that Israel is the only country in the world that practices torture under international political and legal cover, pointing out that there are more than 11,700 Palestinians in Israeli jails living in inhuman conditions.

In a report issued by the ministry on the occasion of the world day against torture which marks 26 of June, Dr. Ahmed Shweideh said that the IOA has escalated its torture policy against prisoners, where from the first moment of arrest, the IOF troops use tight plastic stripes to shackle their victims and blindfold them before starting to beat them brutally with batons and rifle butts and to trample them underfoot.

Dr. Shweideh underscored that the Israeli general committee against torture revealed that there are 90 cases of torture against Palestinian prisoners including children who are supposed to be protected by international law.

B'Tselem, an Israeli information center, also disclosed that Israel uses dozens of internationally-forbidden torture means where almost all Palestinian detainees are subjected to physical and mental abuse during interrogations.

The Palestinian prisoners in the Israeli Megiddo prison appealed in a leaked letter to international human rights to pressure the IOA to stop the aggressive and arbitrary acts practiced by the Israeli Nachshon repression unit.

They said that the members of this unit commit acts unrelated to humanity where they use ugly remarks, slurs and threats against them. "

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