Wednesday, July 15, 1998 10:48
Amnesty International Critical of Israeli Report
(IsraelWire-7/15) The following release was published by Amnesty International,
regarding a report submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Committee by Israel.
Amnesty International is expressing its concern this week to the UN Human Rights
Committee about a wide range of human rights violations, including extra-judicial
executions, torture, arbitrary detention and unfair trials, committed by Israel.
On 15 and 16 July the Israeli Government will be presenting its first report -- long
overdue -- to the Committee. The report describes how Israel is implementing the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Members will question the
Israeli delegation and make concluding observations.
Israel's report to the Committee fails to discuss the human rights situation in Judea,
Samaria, Gaza, South Lebanon and the Golan Heights -- even though Israel is also bound to
apply the ICCPR in these areas, as well as in Israel.
"It is unacceptable that Israel fails to address in its report to the Human Rights
Committee the implementation of the Covenant in the territories (Judea, Samaria and Gaza)
'which it occupies', especially given the scale and seriousness of the human rights
violations perpetrated against their populations," the organization said.
Amnesty International is requesting that the Committee ask Israel to submit a
supplementary report on the implementation of the Covenant in the "Occupied
Territories". The human rights organization is also asking the Committee to make
strong recommendations to the Israeli Government on how it can fully implement the ICCPR.
Amnesty International's concerns, expressed in a memorandum to the Committee, include:
Extra-judicial killings and unlawful killings: With flagrant disrespect for the right to life, the use of extra-judicial executions to
combat "terrorism" appears official policy for the Israel Government.
Additionally, each year the Israeli security forces shoot dead dozens of Arabs, frequently
using excessive force and even violating the Israeli army's own Open Fire Regulations.
Torture and ill-treatment: Secret official guidelines authorize the General Security
Service (GSS) to employ torture and ill-treatment during interrogations. The GSS uses
sensory deprivation methods, position abuse and violent shaking systematically. Torture is
not only official policy, it is effectively legalized: Israel's Supreme Court has, until
now, failed to give legal protection to detainees subjected to such methods.
In Khiam Detention Center, a prison in South Lebanon run by the South Lebanon Army
(SLA), Israel's proxy militia in the area, in cooperation with Israel, Lebanese detainees
are also systematically tortured.
Arbitrary detention: Israel currently holds about 90 Arabs in arbitrary detention
without charge or trial as "administrative detainees".
In addition, it holds 21 Lebanese nationals in administrative detention as hostages in
return for information about Israeli soldiers missing in action in Lebanon.
In November 1997 the Israeli Supreme Court held that it was legal to hold these
detainees as "bargaining chips".
The Israeli army and the SLA illegally arrest Lebanese nationals in South Lebanon,
taking them either to Khiam Detention Center or, occasionally, to Israel. About 100
Lebanese detainees, including children, are imprisoned in Khiam, which operates completely
outside any legal framework. None has been charged or put on trial. Some detainees have
been held in this condition since 1985.
Unfair trials: Palestinian detainees receive unfair trials in the military courts set
up by Israel for the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Convictions are almost invariably based
exclusively on the accused's confession, usually extracted by the use of torture and
ill-treatment. It appears to Amnesty International that there is a presumption of guilt
rather than innocence in these courts.
Background
The UN Human Rights Committee is a body of 18 experts elected by the States Parties to
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to monitor the way these states
implement their obligations set out in the Covenant.
Israel ratified the Covenant in 1991. The experts act in their personal capacity and do
not represent their government. The experts regularly review written reports from states
on how the Covenant has been implemented by questioning government representatives and
issuing written conclusions.
Source:
http://www.israelwire.com/New/980715/9807158.html
