UN: Israel should reveal secret torture centers, if they exist
By Shlomo Shamir, Haaretz Correspondent – 16 May 2009
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1085849.html
The United Nations urged Israel to reveal secret torture facilities, if the country operated such centers, in a report published Friday by the world body’s Committee Against Torture.
In reference to information provided by Israel that a detention center run by the Shin Bet security services known as “Facility 1391” was no longer operational, the committee wrote: “The State party should investigate and disclose the existence of any other such facility and the authority under which it has been established.”
The committee also said it was concerned that the Supreme Court has found that Israeli authorities acted reasonably in not conducting investigations into allegations of torture and poor detention conditions in the facility, which Israel said was closed in 2006.
For the first time, the committee dealt with allegations of Palestinian human rights infringements in Friday’s report.
“The Palestinian authorities in the West Bank should take immediate measures to investigate, prosecute and appropriately punish persons under their jurisdiction responsible for these abuses,” it said.
“Additionally,” the report continued, “Hamas authorities in the Gaza Strip should take immediate steps to end its campaign of abductions, deliberate and unlawful killings, torture, and unlawful detentions, and to punish those responsible.”
Members of the UN panel questioned Israeli officials earlier in the month about the allegations over the detention facility. Shai Nitzan, deputy state attorney for special affairs at Israel’s justice ministry, told them in response: “Every complaint alleging inappropriate treatment towards prisoners and detainees is investigated and seriously considered by the competent authorities, and if there is legal basis, criminal or disciplinary procedures are taken.”
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Israeli Occupation Archive editor’s comment:
Haaretz Internet edition is published in both Hebrew and English. The two language versions are not always exactly the same. The English version reports included here may be shorter, providing less detail than the Hebrew version. Furthermore, sometimes the English version is a watered-down version of the original Hebrew text: for example, it may leave out important more-critical details, or soften a headline.
Specifically, the headline of the Hebrew original reads: “UN: Israel should reveal secret torture centers in its territory” – without qualifying “if they exist.” Similarly, the first paragraph of the Hebrew version does not have the qualifying comment “if the country operated such centers.”
The Hebrew original provides greater detail on the committee, stating that it consists of 10 independent experts and that it had already requested information on the “facility,” and requested to allow the Red Cross to visit it. It then reports that the Committee stated that Facility 1391 is located “in an unclear location within Israel, and is not accessible to The International Committee of the Red Cross, to detainees’ lawyers, or to their families.
The third paragraph of the English version is missing the following text: “The committee claimed that it had received various claims that Israel tortures detainees in the facility by beatings and sleep deprivation, among other [methods]. In the report published today, the committee claims that ’the suspicions of torture at the facility must be investigated, and it must be explained who was responsible for approving setting it up.’”
The fourth paragraph of the English version is missing the following text: “Israel transmitted to the committee its formal reaction to the subject, where it was argued that [Israel] denies that it operates the facility or uses it to interrogate detainees. ’For several years now, the Shabak is not involved in the operation of the facility, and no Shabak interrogations take place in it. Moreover, since September 2006, it has not been used to hold detainees.’”
Finally, the fourth paragraph of the English version also ommits a qualifying reference to the response of the Israeli representative, namely, that his comments were not made with regard to any specific facility. In other words, the statement “Every complaint alleging inappropriate treatment towards prisoners and detainees is investigated…” is made in general – or may in fact be a generic ’boilerplate’ reply provided by the Israeli authorities in response to any allegation of mistreatment of detainee. If so, it makes one wonder just how serious or thorough such ’investigations’ are.
