New allegations that Israeli security agents torture some Arab political detainees in the course of their interrogations surfaced here over the weekend in the case of Noder Affuri who was committed to a mental institution immediately after his release from two years of administrative detention.
His attorney, Felicia Langer, charged that Affuri, 30, “lost his mental balance” soon after his arrest in August, 1977 on suspicion of membership in a terrorist organization. She attributed his condition to torture, Langer claimed that Affuri, who is presently at the A-Dohoisha mental hospital near Bethlehem, bare physical evidence of torture when she visited him in a Nablus jail 10 months ago. She said he had burns on his brows and arms and that fellow prisoners claimed the Israelis had stubbed out lighted cigarettes on his body.
Langer told Hoaretz reporter Yehudo Litani that Affuri was out of his mind when she saw him again six weeks ago and seemed to her “half dead” although he had been healthy and normal at the time of his arrest. She said the prison commander told her he was only pretending mental illness. According to Hoaretz, Affuri’s present, condition is characterized by inability to speak, incontinence and complete unresponsiveness. Hospital staff have “apparently received orders not to admit newsmen,” the Hoaretz reporter said.
OFFICER EXPLAINS AFFURI’S CONDITION
A high ranking army officer denied last night that Affuri had been tortured until he went out of his mind. He told reporters that the prisoner had developed a condition, soon after his arrest, known as environmental detachment which manifests itself by refusing contacts with other people and even refusing to eat. The officer said that in time, that condition developed into “hysterical psychosis,” which, according to him, is fairly common among prisoners awaiting trial.
The officer claimed that Affuri was examined repeatedly by a psychologist and was eventually admitted to the psychiatric section at the Ramle jail. He said Affuri’s case was studied by Amnesty International several months ago and the organization which assists political prisoners accepted the findings of the various psychiatric examinations that the prisoner had undergone.
Justice Minister Shmuel Tamir reported recently that there are 17 persons presently held under administrative detention in the occupied territories. Administrative detention is incarceration without trial.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
