Addameer Calls for End to Impunity for Torture of Palestinians

===========================================

Ramallah, 26 June 2011—As the rest of the world commemorates the UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture on 26 June 2011, Addameer prepares to appeal the sentence of yet another Palestinian convicted on the basis of a confession extracted through torture.

On 6 February 2010, 16-year-old Mohammad Halabiyeh was arrested by the Israeli Border Police in his hometown of Abu Dis. Although Mohammad broke his left leg during the arrest, this did not shield him from torture and ill-treatment. Over the next couple of days, Israeli soldiers would repeatedly punch him in the face and abdomen, apply pressure to his broken leg, push syringes into his hand and leg and deprive him of sleep, and an interrogator would threaten him with sexual abuse. On 6 June 2011, a year and four months after his arrest, Mohammad, who is now 17, was found guilty on all charges. Although the Israeli military judge explicitly stated in her ruling that she believes that the boy was tortured, she also argued that the torture did not influence his confession and should therefore not be taken to nullify his statements.

Mohammad’s experience is by no means an isolated case, but it is emblematic of the Israeli authorities’ continued willingness to condone torture and their systematic failure to effectively punish its use within their ranks. The 6 June 2011 ruling echoes the spirit of the 1999 Israeli High Court of Justice decision on torture, which is largely considered to have imposed an absolute prohibition on torture, but in fact left the door open for torture to continue with complete impunity under certain circumstances.

Because he confessed to an offence as a result of being tortured, Mohammad has already spent a year and four months of his childhood in Israeli detention. His sentence, which will be pronounced on 29 June 2011, is likely to call for even more time in prison. On this occasion, therefore, Addameer stands in solidarity with Mohammad, his family and all other Palestinians who have suffered the devastating effects of torture and ill-treatment.

We urge the international community of states, intergovernmental organizations, NGOs, and civil society to start acting decisively to denounce and put an end both to Israel’s use of torture and its willingness to excuse it so that, in the future, cases like those of Mohammed Halabiyeh may become the exception rather than the rule.