Israeli civil liberties groups accused the security services of
routinely abusing Palestinian terror suspects. B’Tselem and HaMoked said in
a report issued Sunday that Shin Bet interrogators used a “seven-step”
system against security detainees that includes solitary confinement, sleep
deprivation and beatings. Such methods are illegal and
constitute torture, said the groups, which based their findings on
interviews with 73 Palestinians who recently were detained.
The Justice
Ministry rejected the report as inaccurate, adding that the Shin
Bet’s methods conform to Supreme Court rulings on how suspected terrorists
are to be handled in cases where they are believed to be withholding
information on imminent attacks.
“The last few years have seen many civilian
lives saved as a direct consequence of information derived from these
interrogations,” the Justice Ministry said.
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