Israel’s Justice Ministry has angrily rejected an Amnesty International report alleging that Israeli authorities “effectively condoned if not encouraged” the physical abuse of Palestinians held in detention.
The ministry’s statement, released Tuesday, accused the London-based humanitarian organization of ignoring the fact that Palestinians have a motive to “fabricate” allegations of torture.
It categorically denied Amnesty’s charge that an Israeli commission of inquiry into interrogation methods, headed by Judge Moshe Landau, had condoned the use of “moderate physical pressure” on a suspect if a terrorist act might thereby be prevented.
The commission’s recommendations, endorsed by the Cabinet in 1987, were widely criticized in Israel at the time for giving the internal security agency known as Shin Bet a green light to inflict “moderate” torture.
The privately-operated Amnesty International concentrates on the problems of political prisoners and so-called prisoners of conscience.
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.
