New reports of abuse in Israeli prisons

Israeli rights groups say Palestinians detained for questioning by Tel Aviv’s intelligence services are held in cruel conditions and frequently suffer abuse.

Disgraceful hygienic conditions, sleep deprivation and physical abuse are part of the ordeal Palestinians face once they are detained by Israel’s notorious intelligence agency Shin Bet, said a report released on Tuesday by rights groups B’Tselem and HaMoked, Ha’aretz reported on its website.

The report, based on interviews with 121 Palestinians detained in Shin Bet’s Petah Tikva detention center in 2009, indicates that 645 detainees had filed complaints over the nature of their incarceration and/or interrogation since 2001. None of the complaints, however, led to a criminal investigation by the Israeli regime.

Hundreds of detainees are taken in the Petah Tikva prison for questioning every year. Some of the detainees are transferred to Shin Bet prisons after their interrogation to await legal proceedings. Others are released without charges filed against them.

The interviewees included four women, among them a 63-year-old, and 18 minors — nearly all of whom reported having been detained in the early morning hours and prevented from taking personal belongings with them. Some said they were not allowed to get dressed or put on shoes.

A quarter of the interviewees said their homes had been damaged during their arrest, and a third said they had been subjected to violence during questioning.

Three-quarters of respondents were held in small solitary cells, with room only for a mattress and no windows. A bright light was invariably on inside the cells, they said, and the bathrooms smelled putrid.

They said detainees were prohibited from cleaning the cells or replacing dirty mattresses and not allowed to know the time.

The respondents also said that they had been tied to a metal chair in the interrogation room for hours, aside from short bathroom and eating breaks.

Half of the victims reported having been forced into confessing in exchange for leaving solitary confinement or permission to make phone calls to family members.