Testimonial from Meezaan Center for Human Rights on the torturing of Arab minor detainees, maintained by the Israeli police following the demonstrations against the aggression on Gaza

MCHR: The detainees' testimonies reveal the sadism of the Israeli police which parallels torturing the victims by psychopaths we see in Hollywood's movies

Just like all the other Arab villages and cities inside Israel, Kofor Kana (Cana of Galilee) was the scene of a big demonstration last Sunday. In this public demonstration participated people of all ages and political views, all condemned and demanded the stop of the Israeli massacres in Gaza that left more than 660 dead men (then), women, and children, since the beginning of the Israeli air raids last Saturday.

After the demonstration ended, some youngsters, motivated by the sceneries of the dead Palestinians in the streets of Gaza, approached the main street that connects Haifa and Tiberias, and arranged a small demonstration there. Still remembering the events of Octobor 2000, when 13 Arab youths were killed by the Israeli police after a similar demonstration that followed the provocative entrance of the former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon's to Al-Aqsa mosque; the members of the Public Committee of Kofor Kana who arranged the primary demonstration rushed to the street and called those youngsters to withdraw and return to their houses. But all of a sudden, members of the police and the special units who gathered in the place attacked the demonstrators with steel clubs, tear gas, rubber covered bullets, and chemical-laced water cannons. Horrified, the demonstrators managed to escape, but many were captured and taken to the police vehicles with severe wounds, to be taken for a visit to the police headquarters in Tiberias, where a new episode of torture and abuse began. Apparently this procedure was executed in every Arab town that witnessed a pro-Gaza protest.

After it was reported to Meezaan Center for Human Rights that the police members used excessive force against the arrested youngsters, lawyers of MCHR had the chance to meet them in the police station, and they were shocked by what they have seen and heard.

To illustrate this aggressive behavior of the Israeli police since Sunday 28.12.2008, here are few major steps of this systematic abuse.

1-  The hunting phase

According to testimonies gathered in Kofor Kana's area, the police used the encirclement tactic, randomly beating and arresting everyone found in the area in three pre-planned steps:

1-   Two or more helmeted special units (YASAM) members armed with iron sticks and tear gas attack the victim who is a minor in more than 80% of the cases.

2-   They start hitting him on his arms, legs, face and head before saying any word to him.

3-   They usually used tear gas guns against the victims even if the latter didn't try to protect himself or resist arresting.

4-   After beating the victim, the police men drag him to one of the police vehicles, with many kicks, elbow-punches, and beats by iron helmets and steel batons.

The police arrested and cruelly treated many people in the same manner, including two journalists, civilians who were accidentally in the nearby gas station, and even the gas station operator himself. Other minors have been arrested too, one of them is still under 13, who was severely tortured with his face and body full of scars and beating marks.

2-  The Isolation phase

1-   The victim is isolated inside a mini van where one or two policemen hold a closed meeting with him, where the discussion method varies between kicking, slapping, or cursing.

2-   In the police van, the victim suffers a great deal of psychological intimidation and humiliation. For instance, one was ordered by the police to sit in a specific position and take his shoes off, and then he got punished because he "didn't do it well".

3-   The policemen further used to address sexually abusive cursing and swearing against the victims mothers and sisters.

4-   Next, the police take photos of each of the victims with one police man who claims that this victim has attacked or thrown stones on him, which is the cause for arresting.

5-   The victims are taken together to the police station, and kept beaten and abused all the time till they reach the station.

3-  In the police station

1-   Entering the police station, the arrested people are welcomed by a line of police men standing on both sides of the hallway, so when the handcuffed arrestees pass through them into the interrogation room, they are received by kicks and spits and blows in every part of their bodies.

2-   The handcuffed arrestees are then put together in one corner, where a number of police members take turns in kicking them on their faces and sensitive areas of their bodies. Three of the arrested are still suffering from blood spots inside their eyes that bled because of the kicks.

3-   Some police members were masters in spitting on the victims' faces. When we met the arrestees, some of them were still having saliva on their clothes.

4-   After this group torture, the victims went through individual torture session held particularly by two policemen. One of them, a bald called Omer was the most "popular" among the arrestees. Omer pioneered the individual torture scene with each of the victims in various methods; for instance:

A-  Pulling the victims' ears and making laugh of that.

B-  Throwing lit cigarettes on the handcuffed victims.

C-  Making the victim stand with his back to the wall and arms lowered on his waist, and punching him violently.

D-  Swearing, basically sexually abusive curses against mothers and sisters and the prophet Muhammad in a very villainous way.

E-  Kicking, punching, slapping, and beating with steel sticks on every part of the victims' body.

5-   After this warm welcome and during the investigation process, some police men, particularly Omer, used to enter the investigation room and attacks the victim both physically and verbally.

6-   The investigation detective has completely ignored the victim's complaints on being beaten and his demand to have a medical care.

7-   The whole process of investigation was done while the arrested still handcuffed.

Physicians without borders!

Suffering from severe pains after being brutally attacked and beaten, lawyers of MCHR forced the police to give medical care to the prisoners, who were diagnosed by the prison's doctor then dispatched to Poriya medical center.

We were shocked when we noticed the negligence and carelessness with which the doctors in the hospital treated these wounded prisoners. They crossed every border of human behavior by treating those arrestees racially and harshly, ignoring their pains during examination, refusing to answer the victims' questions about their medical condition and verbally reprehending them, totally contradicting the ethics of their profession, which indicates rooted hatred that makes them treat Arab people as criminal outlaws.

Soon after, more than 15 lawyers of MCHR have met with the prisoners in most of the Arab towns and explained to them their rights under custody and inquisition. Then they attended their court hearing sessions and voluntarily represented them in the following legal procedures.

In the moment of writing this report, 16 prisoners out of 20 have been released and sent to their homes with no charges raised against them.