The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) was founded in 1990 and as early as 1991 began to take action to compel the High Court of Justice to prohibit torture and ill treatment. The High Court of Justice worked according to its own pace, as it often does when it is faced with sensitive issues concerning security, and with no consideration for the terrible suffering endured by thousands of Palestinians during that time.
Over the years many petitions were submitted by PCATI, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Hamoked – Center for the Defence of the Individual and others, demanding legal remedies from the Court that would prohibit security agencies from using illegal force. On 6 September 1999, the High Court of Justice handed down its precedent setting ruling that upheld seven petitions and prohibited the use of certain methods of torture which had routinely been used by the General Security Service (GSS). The President of the High Court of Justice, Aharon Barak, who wrote the ruling known as the "Torture Ruling", stated that "The power to interrogate granted to the GSS investigator is the same power the law bestows upon the ordinary police investigator […] The “necessity defense” does not constitute a source of authority, which would allow GSS investigators to make use physical means during the course of interrogations […] The defense deals with cases involving an individual reacting to a given set of facts. It is an improvised reaction to an unpredictable event […] the very nature of the defense does not allow it to serve as the source of authorization […] consequently, it is decided that the order nisi be made absolute. The GSS does not have the authority to “shake” a man, hold him in the “Shabach” position (which includes the combination of various methods, as mentioned in paragraph 30), force him into a “frog crouch” position and deprive him of sleep in a manner other than that which is inherently required by the interrogation. Likewise, we declare that the “necessity defense,” found in the Penal Law, cannot serve as a basis of authority for interrogation practices, or for directives to GSS investigators, allowing them to employ interrogation practices of this kind." 
Illustartion: David Gerstein A decade has past since the ruling on our petition against the torture policy of the GSS. A full decade since 6 September 1999 – and yet a hidden systematic policy of torture still exists. It is true that the number of torture victims is smaller, the methods have changed and the forms of shackling are different, but the pain that victims feel is the same pain, and the policy of the GSS, which permits the granting of a priori permits to carry out torture, still continues. Ten years ago the High Court of Justice determined that the government or heads of the GSS are not authorized to issue directives, regulations and permits which allow the use of physical means in interrogation. During the past ten years, a large evidence has been compiled which proves that the GSS systematically violates the Court's ruling. This evidence includes court testimonies of GSS interrogators, testimonies of interrogees and public statements made by the GSS and the Prime Minister's office. The GSS and the Prime Minister who is responsible for the agency, blatantly, systematically and consistently hold Israeli society – each and every one of us – and the ruling of the High Court of Justice in contempt. This is moral contempt, anchored in internal directives and regulations and supported by the staff of the Attorney General. As stated above, many and various sources point to the continued existence of GSS regulations and a permits system regarding the torture of interrogees, this in violation of the High Court of Justice ruling, Israeli Penal Law and International Law. The permits are granted, a-priori, by the person responsible for the interrogator or even by the Head of the GSS himself. This is done in accordance with a set regulation, known to interrogators, prosecutors and judges by the general name of "necessity interrogations regulation" – the regulation prohibited by the High Court of Justice. For example, the reply of the GSS to an article published in the Ha'aretz newspaper states that "the authorization to use force in interrogations is given by a person who ranks as the head of an interrogation team, and at times is even granted by the head of the GSS himself"; or as stated on another occasion "It must be made clear that the authorization for the use of special means in interrogation can only be given by the Head of the GSS". In September 1999, we were happy that the decision of the Court clearly stated that the actions of the GSS concerning a large number of suspects and interrogees which took place during an extended period of time in the past were illegal. However, these deeds, in various forms, still take place today. It is my hope that in the coming decade – until September 2019 - we will succeed in completely eradicating torture from our daily lives and from the working agenda of the security forces in Israel. Dr. Ishai Menuchin
Executive Director, PCATI |
