Addameer: 95% of arrested Palestinian students were subjected to torture

Occupied West Bank (QNN)- A new report by the Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association (Addameer) has revealed that over 25 Palestinians, who were arrested during the recent months, were subjected to brutal torture in Israeli interrogation centers.

The association revealed in a press conference on Monday that 95% of those who were arrested have been subjected to different types of torture and that most of them had no relations to any military activities. They were accused of participating in non-violent political and social activities.

Addameer stated that the occupation state has been trying, through an integrated methodology, to go after all forms of political and trade union activities throughout Palestine.

In the same context, Addameer stated that Samer Arbid was evacuated to Hadasah hospital only a few hours after his arrest without informing his lawyer or family. However, the Israelis had to tell Arbid’s lawyer about his condition when his life became at risk.

Addammer confirmed that medical reports by the hospital revealed that Samer had kidney failure due to brutal beating. He also had 11 fractures and muscle decomposition. Moreover, he lost his toenails after being tortured using the “Shabeh” method, which entails shackling the detainee’s hands and legs to a small chair for prolonged periods, angled to slant forward so that the detainee cannot sit in a stable position.

The NGO assured that it managed to get Arbid’s medical file, but the doctors did not take photos of the signs of torture on his body, which proves that they are colluding with the Israeli Shin Bet.

In another case, Addameer revealed that Israeli soldiers had deliberately unleashed canines to attack sensitive parts of the body of Qassam Barghouthi during his arrest. Barghouthi had a surgery to treat the wounded parts later on, however, the interrogators kept kicking him on his wounded parts, causing him to bleed several times.

Barghouthi was also subjected to psychological torture when his mother, Widad Barghouthi, was arrested to extract his confessions forcefully.

Mais Abu Ghoush, a 20-year-old journalism student, was also tortured during interrogation. She was tortured using “Shabeh” and she was accused of taking part in student activities at Birzeit University.

Addameer accused Israeli courts of covering up the Shin Bet’s torture policy by preventing lawyers from visiting their clients for very long periods.

In one case, the lawyer of Waleed Hanatsheh filed a petition in the Israeli Supreme Court to allow him to visit Hanatsheh but the court rejected it after viewing a confidential file, which included details about the torture to which Hanatsheh was subjected. Addameer assured that it has several pictures, which prove that Hanatsheh was tortured.