Torture Charge Refuted

Rep. Les Aspin (D. Wis.), who has won national re###tion for his watchfulness on the activities of the U.S. armed services, has told Congress that the change that Israel “systematically tortures” prisoners false.

“There are simply no solid fact supporting these assertions,” Aspin said in the House of Representatives after a probe of the allegations and ### assessment of reports and cables at the State Department and inquiries at the United Nations one other sources.

“Having completed a thorough investigation at the matter,” Aspin said, “I can only conclude that no such accusation could reasonably be made.” He noted that “Certainly, some cases of mistreatment have occurred, just as they occur everywhere in the world, and these instances are regrettable and inexcusable. The key question, however, is whether they reflect the policy of the Israeli government. There is simply no convincing evidence that this is the case.”

The Red Crass, he said in his statement, “has visited about 1000 Arab prisoners and has reported mistreatment in only a very few instances-so few that it could in no way be termed ‘systematic.

Aspin’s findings in his independent investigation contradict allegations by a U.S. Consulate officer in East Jerusalem, Alexandra Johnson, who was terminated from the U.S.’ Foreign Service, and the United Nations Commission on Human. Rights, which is dominated by representatives of Communist and Arab nations, which have no relations with Israel.

The State Department had protested orally and in a letter to the Washington Post against its accusation that the Department “suggests” that “systematic torture” is an Israeli practice. The U.S. representative to the UN Commission on Human Rights; Edward Mezvinsky protested the charges in the Commission discussion and voted against its resolution attacking Israel.