Israeli civil liberties groups accused the security services of routinely abusing Palestinian terror suspects. B’Tselem and HaMoked said in a report issued Sunday that Shin Bet interrogators used a “seven-step” system against security detainees that includes solitary confinement, sleep deprivation and beatings. Such methods are illegal and constitute torture, said the groups, which based their findings on interviews with 73 Palestinians who recently were detained.
The Justice Ministry rejected the report as inaccurate, adding that the Shin Bet’s methods conform to Supreme Court rulings on how suspected terrorists are to be handled in cases where they are believed to be withholding information on imminent attacks.
“The last few years have seen many civilian lives saved as a direct consequence of information derived from these interrogations,” the Justice Ministry said.
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