State Department Says Israel Has No Policy of Systematic Torture in the West Bank and Gaza Strip

The State Department said today that it appeared “that instances of mistreatment” have occurred in the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip but that this was neither systematic nor the policy of the Israeli government. The Department’s chief spokesman, Hodding Carter, discussed the matter in connection with a report today in the Washington Post of “systematic torture” in those territories. He said that “the State Department had no evidence of systematic torture.” (See related story P.3.)

The Post story appeared on the eve of the distribution of the State Department’s report on 150 countries that receive U.S. military or economic assistance. The report has been submitted to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and will be distributed tomorrow or Friday but portions of it have leaked to the media.

The report says that “There have been in stances of the use of torture in the occupied areas but the Israeli government flatly denies it. Carter confirmed that the accusations that have been reported stem from “accounts given after the release by Arabs arrested for security offenses.”

The report also says that “Arabs in the occupied territories, including some who were actually in custody and who have reported they have been subjected to mistreatment, continue to allege both publicly and privately that the mistreatment of detainees is a systematic practice. The accumulation of reports, some from credible sources, make it appear that instances of mistreatment have occurred.”

The report charged that Israeli troops and border police have used excessive force in quelling demonstrations and restoring order. But, it added, “they did not reflect the policy of the Israeli government.” Carter said the report submitted to Congress in no way should alter the U.S. relationship with Israel. “We see no reason to change our relationship with Israel,” he said.