Mr. President,

            In April 1979, during an interview by “Maareef” Israeli newspaper with Moushi Dayan , the minister of defense at that time, he summarized the Israeli strategy towards the Arab detainees in the Israeli prisons by the following:

“We will make of these detainees parasites in their societies, and we will not release them until they become like mummies, empty and full of holes from inside like Swiss cheese.”

            And today it is so evident that this strategy is not only still existing but also a development of its methods is being performed. Although Israel has signed the torture opposition agreement on 3\10\1991, Israel still refuses to apply this agreement and execute its regulations, but to the contrary, all Israeli procedures towards the Arab detainees include a coarse violation of the conditions of this agreement and the human rights.

Mr. President,

            In 1987 the Israeli government legally allowed the torture of Arab detainees frankly after the appearance of an official investigation committee report concerning this issue headed by the judge “Moushi Lando” .The committee was named “Lando ‘ s committee”.

            The committee pointed in its report that torture must be allowed if necessary in cased described as “set bombs”, meaning that when it is necessary to get information from the detainee to prevent a wide - range disaster like a bomb exploding in a building full of inhabitants! The committee ‘s report adds that the “Sheen-beet”, which is the Israeli general security system, can resort to torture according to what the committee described as moderate physical pressure.

            In 1996, the Israeli Supreme Court certified the “Lando committee” report repeating the “moderate physical pressure” technique. In 1999 the Israeli Supreme Court decided that a lot of the technique used during investigations are illegal, but it didn’t forbid torture in a decisive way in all conditions.

            The court’s decision did not go far to forbid the torture and the mistreatment totally as the international law implies, and this decision has kept the door open for the torturers to get away from punishment under the excuse of the condition of “ necessary defense “, which is stated in the paragraph 34(11) of the Israeli penal code released in 1977.

            In an investigation by Jadoun Levi written in “Harits” newspaper, Levi wrote:

            “The investigation with Arab detainees was not performed because there was a set bomb that the Israeli government should conclude the time of its explosion, but the whole issue was a routine, the routine of the “Sheen-beet” system.”

Mr. President,

            Israel violates the third and fourth Geneva conventions, especially most of the paragraphs of  the ninth chapter of the fourth convention concerning the disciplinary penalties, and Israel by these penalties is violating the paragraphs 118,119,120, and 125 of this chapter in a conspicuous manner. For example, Israel resorts for group penalties as a result of an individual penalty committed by one of the detainees.

            These group penalties are considered as a sort of torture practiced by the “Sheen-beet” system towards the Arab detainees.

Mr. President,

            Moreover, Israel depends on torture “by doctors” as indicated by an investigation performed by “Mikhal Seelaa” in 1993 for “Dafar”, an Israeli newspaper. Seelaa mentioned the medical qualification model, which is a model issued by the investigation section of the “Sheen-beet” existing in every prison. This model asks for the admission of the doctor that the person being checked is qualified for standing and enduring the following methods:

-To be in an isolated room.

-To be  shackled by iron cuffs.

-To have a bag on his head and eyes.

-To stand for long continuous time.

            There is no doubt that the pressure methods mentioned in this model can be considered a legal and accepted list, but this model does not inflict any restrictions on the use of these methods because restrictions can draw a border between “moderate pressure” and “torture”. All the investigation centers related to the “Sheen-beet” contain doctors that are in duty for 24 hours a day, so there are doctors that offer their approval to torture operations by checking the prisoners before bringing them into torture and in some cases during and after torture and sign a declaration that shows how tough the investigation that a detainee can bare.

Mr. President,

            The doctors that participate in these operations violate Abocrat ‘ s oath and other moral rules that forbid doctors to participate in torture.

            Dr.Afi Rabs,a psychological doctor who was asked to present a humiliating opinion to the Israeli supreme court about 14 Palestinian prisoners, said that he checked them all and found that there were all exposed to torture, and they were investigated for committing trivial crimes like throwing stones or burning tires. Moreover, none of them was pointed as a “set bomb”.

            The testimony that Rabs collected is horrible where one of the detainees said:

            “I was shackled in iron cuffs that entered my flesh, and a bag was put on my head as a certain music roared in my ears and almost deafened me. They used to beat me up and kick me, and my body was full of wounds and bruises. After that I was sent to doctor who asked me if I was tortured, and I said yes, but he didn’t reply or say something. Then I was taken back and tortured again.

            Dr.Iran Dolyev, the president of the profession moralities ‘ committee in the Israeli doctors ‘ association, justifies all this by stating that:

            “The existence of a doctor in “Sheen-beet” centers does not mean that he does not participate in torture. We are not living in the “perfect world”. We are living in Israel, and these procedures are necessary to the Israeli government.”

            Dr.Dolyev that speaking with the heads of the security institution is beneficial:

            “I know the suitable persons, and I can speak with them. This is beneficial. Who do you think was behind the demands for the most comfortable cuffs and the most aerated bags?”

Mr. President,

            Here lies the problem. In the instant that the doctors comment on the determination of the torture method, they become involved in the torture operation even if their aim is to lessen the inhumanity of this torture. The role of the doctor is to oppose to torture and not to help the “Sheen-beet” find softer torture methods.        

Mr. President,

            Tens of thousands of Arab detainees have passed the Israeli investigation wheels since the issuance of the Israeli supreme court decision in 1999, and they, along with their families, still hold the torture‘s wounds on their bodies and souls until now. The crime is still occurring crying for your justice.

            Finally, the principles of the international law guarantee the right to follow and punish those responsible for the violations that the Arab people have suffered in the Palestinian, Lebanese, Syrian or Egyptian territories or inside what is called the Israeli territory since 1948 and until now.

That is why we demand:

1-to build temporary international criminal courts to follow and punish all the Israeli leaders for the crimes they have committed against humanity and all their war crimes.
2-to force the Israeli government to pay indemnification for all the detainees and all the harmed its tyrant policy.
3-to release a decision that forbids the group punishments as a type of torture.

                                                                                                            Thank you