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Israeli torture of Palestinian children 'institutional'
White, Ben
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/01/coercion-violence-threats-torture-israeli-style-170129092739964.htmlDate Written: 2017-02-07 Publisher: Al Jazeera Year Published: 2017 Resource Type: Article Cx Number: CX20315 Investigation of the practice of torture by Shin Bet interrogators, revealing the practice as systematic. Abstract: -- Excerpts: According to one study, as many as 91 percent of Palestinian detainees interrogated by the Shin Bet in the occupied West Bank are held incommunicado for either part or all of their interrogation. Stroumsa says this practice is "an enabling element for torture". In the military court system, which has a 99 percent conviction rate, Palestinians can be held for 60 days without access to a lawyer - compared with the United States, where the average length of interrogations producing false confessions is 16 hours. ... Although an Israeli Supreme Court ruling in 1999 prohibited "physical means" of interrogation, Shin Bet agents were effectively given impunity for torture and ill-treatment by the so-called "necessity defence" or " ticking bomb" exemption. According to anti-torture campaigners, this exemption has served as a green light for torture ever since. Since 2001, hundreds of formal complaints have been made against Shin Bet interrogators, but not a single criminal investigation has been opened. Subject Headings |