The Israel Defense Force has agreed to adopt an investigatory panel’s recommendations on how to prevent army personnel from using violence against Palestinians detained for security offenses in the administered territories.
Lt. Gen. Ehud Barak, the IDF chief of staff, said the army would adopt recommendations contained in a report submitted by reserve Maj. Gen. Rafael Vardi.
Vardi was assigned in May to investigate complaints, brought by B’tselem and other human rights groups, that army soldiers were using violence against Palestinians held in interrogation centers in the administered territories.
In his report, Vardi urged that responsibility for interrogations be transferred out of IDF hands or, alternatively, that responsibilities for such questioning be carefully delineated.
He also recommended decreasing the number of military detention and interrogation centers in the territories, in light of a drop in the number of Palestinians being arrested.
Vardi collected testimony from 16 plaintiffs who are residents of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as 26 IDF military interrogators. He visited seven military detention centers and spoke with commanders, soldiers and detainees.
He also spoke with more than 60 people working in the military detention system, the Military Advocate’s Office, the Shin Bet security service, the national police force, various IDF commands and the IDF general staff.
His report also includes recommendations for sharply clarifying existing IDF orders, which prohibit the use of any violence and even removes the possibility of using threats against residents of the West Bank and Gaza Strip when persons are apprehended and during the course of their interrogation.
IDF CHIEF PRAISES REPORT
The responsibility for carrying out orders must be placed on commanders at all levels, the report stresses. It recommends appointing personnel from the general staff and various commands who will be responsible for questioning.
Out of 16 complaints of suspected use of violence by interrogators during interrogations by IDF soldiers, Vardi recommended that eight continue to be investigated by the military police. The military advocate general has adopted this recommendation.
Barak, who was appointed to his post this spring, thanked Vardi for his work. He emphasized that army orders are unequivocal with regard to preserving the rights of those suspected of disturbing order and carrying out violent acts against Jews and Arabs alike in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The chief of staff said Vardi’s appointment and the adoption of his recommendations are intended to emphasize the army’s policy and the need for steadfastly dealing with any deviations from it.
B’tselem, which studies violations of human rights in the administered territories, praised Vardi’s “serious work.”
It said the fact that Vardi recommended further investigations of eight complaints strengthens the arguments it presented in its original complaint.
However, B’tselem criticized the recommendation to transfer responsibility for interrogations from the IDF as a mere technicality, saying it did not contend with complaints about interrogations carried out by the Shin Bet.
B’tselem expressed hope that a committee appointed at the Justice Ministry to probe the work of the Shin Bet would fill the gap in Vardi’s report.
PALESTINIANS STAGE A PROTEST
In the meantime, five Palestinian leaders summoned a news conference Tuesday in East Jerusalem, protesting “the deliberate killing of Palestinians by Israeli forces.”
Among the five were Faisal Husseini and Hanan Ashrawi, who were recently involved in talks here with U.S. Secretary of State James Baker.
The Palestinians gave examples of four youths who had been killed within six days between Aug. 5 and 11.
“The escalation of such summary executions by the army reflects a policy directly contradictory to the current peace process, deliberately creating an atmosphere of hostility and mistrust which is not conducive to peace,” they said.
Official military sources responded by saying there had been no change in orders and that the army is acting according to circumstances and strictly following its orders.
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