Lt. Gen. Ehud Barak, the new Israel Defense Force chief of staff, has bowed to the wishes of civil rights activists to investigate charges that Palestinian prisoners have been physically abused during interrogation.
The chief of staff has named reserve Gen. Rafael Vardi to conduct an investigation into the alleged brutal treatment of Palestinian prisoners.
Vardi, 69, who in the past has served as head of the military police, commander of the West Bank and Defense Ministry coordinator in the administered territories from 1967 to 1974, is to investigate charges by B’tselem, the Israeli human rights information center.
The charges, based on interviews with 41 former Palestinian detainees, were published in March, but the IDF dismissed them as unfounded.
However, demands for an independent inquiry were quickly taken up by liberal Knesset members.
A Season of Big Decisions. From the Knesset campaign to American midterms, Jewish communities are weighing what comes next. Help JTA keep delivering the deeper context.
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.
