Physicians for Human Rights – Israel (PHR-Israel) has just published a new report stating that “at least 438 sick Gazan medical patients have been summoned for interrogations by Israel’s General Security Services (GSS) — otherwise also known as Shin Bet, or Shabak — at Erez Crossing into and out of Israel, as a precondition for the review of their applications for an exit permit for the purpose of accessing medical treatment outside of the Strip, between January 2008 and March 2009.
That is, the patients must come for an “interview” with the feared Shin Bet even before their application for an exit permit for medical treatment is even examined.
According to PHR-Israel, this policy of interrogation of sick patients began in August 2007 – about six weeks after the Hamas rout of Fatah security forces in Gaza in mid-June 2007.
The data collected by PHR-Israel “points to [a recent] increase in the ratio of the number of interrogations to the total number of applications submitted to the authorities at Erez Crossing”,
meaning that more sick and ill Palestinian patients have been interrogated recently, and forced to provide information, as a precondition to exit Gaza for medical care.
This new data, and new testimonies collected from these patients by PHR-Israel, will be presented today (Monday 4 May) to the UN Committee against Torture, meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.
In its new report, “PHR-Israel reiterates its claim that the way in which the GSS is exploiting patients’ medical conditions by exerting pressure on them, be it overt or hidden, constitutes
coercion prohibited under the Fourth Geneva Convention. The fact that refusal to cooperate with interrogators leads to denial of medical treatment could constitute a contravention of the UN Convention against Torture”.
Israel is a signatory to the International Convention against Torture.
PHR-Israel says, in the report, that in addition to the rise in the percentage of patients being interrogated as a precondition for permission to leave Gaza, the GSS has also employed “new practical measures”, and has:
– implemented interrogations without prior notice
– photographed sick patients against their will
– Harassed, accused, cursed and intimidated sick patients during interrogations
– detained sick patients for undisclosed periods of time for interrogation
– interrogated sick minors [without the presence of a parent].
And, PHR-Israel stated, as in the past, “Patients that did not cooperate were returned to Gaza without receiving a permit to exit for medical treatment”.
The report also states that “PHR-Israel has protested several times against the GSS policy and demanded the intervention of official bodies, who it believes have the authority to exert influence in order to put a stop to this practice. The judges of the High Court ignored depositions of patients submitted to them and decided to accept the GSS refutation of the facts, given orally by its representatives behind closed doors, and rejected the petition. The phenomenon of
extortion of patients at interrogations has been brought to the attention of the Israel Medical Association (IMA) on three occasions since it was first exposed by PHR-Israel in September 2006. To date the voice of the IMA has not been heard publicly”.
The report says that “Since August 2007, PHR–Israel has collected dozens of testimonies from patients from Gaza who underwent interrogation by the GSS at the Erez crossing point, in the course of which they were required to supply information and/or to become collaborators as a
precondition for exiting the Gaza Strip for medical treatment”.
In August 2008, PHR-Israel published a report on this problem, Holding Health to Ranson; GSS interrogation and Extortion of Palestinian patients at the Erez Crossing. At the same time, PHR-Israel “appealed to the Legal Adviser to the Government, Mr. Meni Mazuz and the Foreign Minister, Ms. Zippy Livni and demanded that they take steps to restrain the GSS. To date no effective response has been received from either … The silence of the Legal Adviser to the Government and of the Israeli Foreign Ministry in light of the findings presented to them in the PHR-Israel report, when compounded by the failure of the High Court and IMA to intervene, reflect the continuous remissness of the above-mentioned Israeli public system which should serve as the controller of GSS conduct and policies. All these factors are responsible for the continuing harm inflicted on a daily basis on a group regarded as the weakest within a population which lives in a state of siege”.
The new report, published today, states that “PHR-Israel [has] continued to monitor this phenomenon. Between September 2008 and February 2009, PHR-Israel collected additional 30
testimonies from patients from Gaza who had undergone interrogation after the time period covered by the report … The data points to an increase in the ratio in the number of interrogations of the total number of applications submitted to the authorities at Erez Crossing … The sharp decrease in the number of interrogations in August corresponds to the date of publication of PHR-Israel’s report on the subject, launched at a press conference on 4 August 2008. The report gained wide media coverage in the local and international press, had a strong impact on public opinion, and apparently led to a temporary suspension of interrogations by the GSS. [But] The absence of response by official bodies in Israel and abroad and failure to wield sanctions against the GSS enabled it to revert to this policy and even to intensify it.
Another indication that the August report had some impact is this, as the report also states: “On 8 August a letter was transmitted to PHR- Israel by Ms. Nika Steinhoff, director of the Office of the Legal Adviser to the Government, informing them that the organization’s application has been received and ‘when your application has been dealt with, we will inform you’ … Since August 2008, the GSS [did amend] its decision to withhold medical treatment from 8 patients whose lives were in danger, after local and international public pressure exerted on the security authorities to permit them to leave the Strip for treatment”.
Since the end of the IDF’s 22-day Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, the report says, “the GSS reverted to the policy of interrogating patients. From numerous testimonies received, particularly in the first few days after the attack, many patients – who had been informed by PHR-Israel or by the Palestinian Civilian Committee that their exit had been approved – were taken for interrogation without prior warning, and some of them were sent back to Gaza after the interrogation. The GSS has reverted to its previous policy, whereby interrogations are carried out
without prior coordination. As a consequence, the patients suffer even greater uncertainty as to what awaits them at Erez Crossing and as to what the prospects of them being allowed to leave are. It is noteworthy that in other cases, the GSS and the army – by way of the Israeli Coordination and Liaison Administration – continue to force PHR-Israel and the Palestinian Civilian Committee to comply with prior coordination of interrogations as a precondition to examine patients’ applications”.
However, according to this new PHR-Israel report, Hamas is trying to enforce a ban on these special interrogations by the Israeli security forces: “since February 2009, Hamas policemen – stationed at a checkpoint a kilometer and a half south of Erez Crossing – have been preventing them from reaching Erez Crossing for GSS interrogations. It emerges from these patients’ testimony that the Hamas policy is to permit patients to reach the crossing only if they are going there in order to exit for medical treatment. [In other words, Hamas will not permit the patients to report for the demanded Shin Bet interrogations] In some cases patients report threats leveled at them that if they attend the interrogations they will be harmed. Since the policy of separating the interrogation date from the departure date continues, and patients are summoned to Erez Crossing for interrogation purposes alone and are then sent home to await a reply, many patients are forced to take the risk and make their way to the interrogation”.
In addition, the PHR-Israel report says that “A series of new measures towards patients are being adopted during interrogations. These measures reflect a worsening of the attitude of GSS interrogators towards patients.” PHR-Israel lists the following measures:
– As they enter the interrogation room, the patients are forced to have their photograph taken. This is done without obtaining the permission of the patient, and sometimes by coercion. It is done by the GSS interrogator, who forces the patient to stand, holding a sheet of paper in front of him on which his name and identity card number are written. The photograph serves the GSS for documentation.
– Many patients complain that the GSS interrogators insult them during the interrogation if they give unsatisfactory answers.
– Patients are locked in for unspecified periods, and complain that before the interrogation begins and sometimes in its midst, they are taken to small rooms where they are locked and made to wait without being told for how long. This can last anything between half an hour and several hours. The patients say that sometimes, in the course of the interrogation as well, they are taken to another room and are locked in alone for an unknown period of time. This is in addition to the lengthy wait before the interrogation begins in subterranean interrogation rooms. The entire process, including the waiting periods, lasts on an average 6 to 8 hours and does not take into consideration the patient’s medical condition.
– And, for the first time since the introduction of the interrogation policy in August 2007, PHR has learned of two cases where the GSS summoned minors for interrogation”.
In this report, PHR-Israel demands that:
• The medical needs of the patient population of the Gaza Strip must not be exploited by the GSS for purposes of collection of intelligence data.
• The official bodies responsible for control of GSS policy and practices must exert their authority in order to revoke the policy which renders departure from Gaza for medical treatment conditional on collaboration with the GSS in interrogations at Erez Crossing.
• The Israeli medical community, headed by IMA, must bring its influence to bear in order to prevent injurious and unethical exploitation of the medical needs of the Gaza population for non-medical purposes.
• The GSS and the army rescind their demand that PHR-Israel coordinate the interrogation dates as a condition for dealing with the organization’s applications.
• PHR- Israel calls on the UN Committee against Torture to investigate the issue of GSS interrogation policies … in May 2009.
The full P£HR-Israel report can be found here