This piece was reprinted by OpEd News with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.
Getting Away with Torture in Israel
Torture is official Israeli and US policy.
by Stephen Lendman
Torture is illegal at all times under all circumstances with no allowed exceptions. Israel's Supreme Court ruled both ways.
On the one hand, it banned torture. On the other, it permitted physical force in "ticking bomb" cases. At the time, Court President Aharon Barak claimed it saves lives. He authorized use of the "necessity defense" to get away with lawless practices.
He let Israel's attorney general determine guidelines. They constitute an a priori authorization to torture. International law is clear and unequivocal.
The UN Convention against Torture calls it:
"any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain and suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity...."
Israel and America are the only modern states officially sanctioning torture. Doing so contradicts their own statute laws.
Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).