Wednesday, December 30, 2015, 12:43 Despite denials by the GSS and senior politicians,
Minor showing scar;
Photo credit: Honenu
a photograph publicized on Wednesday, December 30, indicates that one of the minors detained in the Kfar Duma case and tortured during interrogation by the GSS, did slit his wrists in a suicide attempt. He felt that could no longer endure the physical and emotional pressure applied to him during the interrogations.
For 21 days the detained minor was not allowed to meet with an attorney. As soon as he met with his attorneys, they discovered the scars from the cuts and demanded that the wound be documented and the documentation entered into the minor’s file. The attorneys then learned that the scars on the minor’s arms had been shown to a judge during a court deliberation. Afterwards the minor was placed under constant surveillance by the Prison Service and underwent several psychiatric examinations. See here for a report on the press conference Honenu held after attorneys were allowed to meet with Kfar Duma case detainees.
The attorneys were not able to immediately photograph the scars. Only two and a half weeks after the suicide attempt was it possible to photograph the minor’s arms and document the cuts, which had begun to heal. However the scars are definitely clearly visible and do indicate that the detained minor attempted to put an end to his life. The GSS and senior politicians have denied the claim by the attorneys that the minor slit his wrists, but the photographs support the claim.
Honenu Attorney Chai Haber, who is representing the minor, stated that, “In the State of Israel a minor was interrogated and tortured until he reached the point at which he attempted to take his own life. It was distressing to read the denials by the investigatory unit of the suicide and the attempt to pull the wool over the eyes of the the public, while the acts were being recorded and documents filed in the investigatory case. I am of the opinion that after the investigatory material is revealed, including the extent of the torture and the beatings, and the deviations from the regulations which occurred during the investigation are publicized, the public will be shocked and outraged, and will understand where the truth is and where the lies are.”