Proposed Law Would Legalize Torture of Palestinians

By Geoff Lumetta

Amnesty International is protesting a recent bill proposed in the Israeli Knesset that the group says effectively legalizes torture of prisoners and detainees in Israel and the occupied territories. The proposed amendment, ironically called "Prohibition on Torture," calls for a 10-20 year prison sentence for any public servant who tortures or authorizes torture. But Amnesty International pointed out that the bill allows mental and physical harm while a prisoner is being questioned. The bill defines torture as "severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, except for pain or suffering inherent in interrogation procedures or punishment according to the law."

For years Amnesty and other human rights organizations have exposed the torture that occurs during Israeli interrogation of Palestinian detainees. They say Palestinians are often hooded, deprived of sleep, sometimes for four to six days while kept standing or sitting in painful positions, beaten, violently shaken and confined to narrow, cupboard-sized cells.

The Israeli government argues that the law is necessary for the state to take action against security threats. But the United Nations Convention Against Torture states that "no exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether...international political instability or any other public emergency, may be involved as a justification of torture." Amnesty called on Israel to abide by the U.N. Convention, which Israel ratified in 1991.

The organization also warned that the amendment would give greater opportunity for abuses by the General Security Service—also known as Shin Bet or Shabak—which is Israel's main security service involved in interrogating prisoners. "The Israeli government should now cease playing with words and act to prohibit torture in Israeli interrogation centers."

Human Rights Watch: Government, Armed Opposition Impede Algerian Elections

Despite claims of fairness by the Algerian government, the Nov. 16 elections that gave Acting President Laimine Zeroual 60 percent of the vote were not free and unhindered, according to the international human rights group Human Rights Watch / Middle East. The New York-based group said the country's first multi-party elections lacked an adequate number of international monitors to verify the accuracy of the results or the turnout level—only 100 monitors for 16 million eligible voters. It also reported that voters feared administrative harassment from the established military government for not voting, as well as threats of violence from radical groups that opposed the election.

"The pressures on voters came not only from violent Islamist militants who have threatened those who participate in the election, but also from the government, which determined how the campaign and the election would be conducted with no input from any elected body, and which has muzzled peaceful critics of the election," said Human Rights Watch in a statement released before the election. The military government also barred from the election candidates who had any success in the 1991 elections—including those affiliated with the three leading opposition parties, the National Liberation Front (FLN); the Socialist Forces Front (FFS); and the outlawed Islamic Salvation Front (FIS). "This almost certainly is not the field of candidates that would have emerged in a freer political climate," Human Rights Watch said.

The 75 percent turnout claimed by the acting military government was bolstered by the regime's stifling of opposition voices. According to Human Rights Watch, the government ordered a television black-out of any viewpoints hostile to the election; it arrested leaders of the Berber Cultural Movement, which opposed the election; it confiscated at the printing press three recent issues of La Nation, a weekly paper critical of the elections; and it refused to allow several meetings organized by political parties who opposed the election.

The vote marked the first time Zeroual and the provisional government have faced an election since being selected by a military-backed elite in 1991. The National Transitional Council, as the government is called, ousted and replaced most local officials who were swept into office by the FIS victory in the 1990 municipal elections. The overthrow sparked a civil war in Algeria that has killed more than 30,000 people since 1992.

Although Human Rights Watch did not condemn the elections, which it called a necessary step to peace in the country, it acknowledged that both armed opposition groups and the government have "violated human rights and imposed other obstacles" that prevented truly free elections.

Israeli Solders Storm Palestinian Statistics Office

According to the Palestinian National Authority Ministry of Information, Israeli soldiers raided the main offices of the Palestinian Central Statistics Department in Ramallah Nov. 22, arresting one employee and disturbing the work in the office. The Statistics Department was preparing information for the Palestinian legislative elections scheduled for Jan. 20 when the raid occurred. The department director, Dr. Hassan Abu-Libdeh, said the act was an interference in Palestinian affairs and an infringement on Palestinian sovereignty. The Palestinian Ministry said the army gave no prior warning of the raid and it speculated that the act was meant to derail Palestinian confidence in the peace process. "The immediate conclusion one would reach is that the Israeli military authorities are interested in sabotaging the process and provoking Palestinians," the Ministry wrote in its weekly publication.

Geoff Lumetta is the features editor of the Washington Report.