Honenu Attorney Avichai Hajbi; Photo credit: Honenu
Tuesday, January 7, 2020, 13:20 Honenu has urgently requested a response from the “Mivtan”, the department of the Justice Ministry authorized to investigate complaints by GSS interrogatees, concerning brutal treatment by GSS interrogators during the interrogation of one of the current detainees. Honenu Attorney Avichai Hajbi: “It is unfortunate that these interrogators regard the court decisions [in the Kfar Duma case] as suggestions and not orders.”
Honenu Attorney Avichai Hajbi requested clarifications from the Mivtan about complaints from a detainee interrogated by the GSS who stated that he had experienced brutality during interrogation. He also has not yet met with an attorney. Hajbi demanded that the Mivtan open an investigation into the GSS interrogators who assaulted the detainee and threatened him.
Hajbi wrote that the detainee “is being held in the General Security Service dungeons, being interrogated on suspicion of arson, as a price tag incident, and belonging to a terror organization. He is also prevented from meeting with an attorney. At a deliberation which took place on the detainee at the beginning of the week, he complained before the judge that the interrogation had become brutal and included sleep deprivation. The detainee tried to barricade himself in the toilet stall in order to avoid a repetition of the abuse.”
Initially the court ordered that the claims of the suspect be transferred to the Police Investigation Unit (PIU). However the representative of the PIU clarified that since the detainee is complaining about GSS interrogators, the Mivtan has the authority to investigate the complaint.
Hajbi added that a physically, and also verbally, brutal interrogation such as this is typical of a third world country, and “it is unfortunate that in the State of Israel in 2020 interrogations such as this are being conducted, especially when the suspect is prohibited from meeting with his attorney.”
Hajbi leveled criticism at the conduct of the GSS: “It seems that the General Security Service interrogators have not drawn the correct conclusions from the Central District Court decision in the Duma case, which ruled that the suspect had been severely physically and emotionally injured [by the GSS]. It is unfortunate that these interrogators regard court decisions as suggestions and not orders.”
The letter concluded with a request to open an investigation into the actions of the GSS interrogators who assaulted and threatened the detainee, and stated that “A democratic state is measured by a substantial procedure of review into systems such as the General Security Service, which is interrogating my client in secrecy and violating his rights.”
Also in the case, the Central District Court in Lod rejected the appeal filed on the order prohibiting one of the detainees from meeting with an attorney. His remand has also been extended until Thursday.
Today at the Petah Tikva Magistrates Court, Honenu representatives will be present at a 14:00 deliberation at which the HaAretz and Walla! news networks will demand that the gag order on the details of the investigation be lifted. Honenu reports that during the time the order has been in effect there have been serious violations of the detainees’ rights.