Once a year, Amnesty International produces a report on the state of human
rights in various parts of the world. The report normally singles out
countries for the treatment of prisoners. The reports normally do not deal
with the broad picture and therefore a distorted picture emerges. In the
case of Israel, the over 25 terrorist acts carried out against it by
Islamic fundamentalist organizations were barely mentioned. The decision
of Mr. Rabin to respond to the report as soon as it was released had to do
with the need to balance the adverse and critical report by explaining the
realities of the situation in which Israel found itself. Two months later,
the Ministry of Justice issued a more detailed reaction to the report (see
document 65). Text:
Though the Government will soon issue a detailed response, we feel
compelled to respond immediately to the unbalanced and inaccurate report
on Israel by Amnesty International in its latest report.
The most glaring inaccuracy is the fact that Amnesty International defines
Palestinian detainees as "prisoners of conscience and possible prisoners
of conscience". As we have pointed out time and time again to Amnesty
International, Israel does not arrest individuals for their beliefs and
does not hold prisoners of conscience. Only those who are affiliated with
illegal organizations which advocate and employ violence are subject to
arrest. According to Amnesty's own definition, individuals who use or
advocate violence cannot be considered prisoners of conscience.
Amnesty International has, as usual, totally ignored the realities of the
situation. On the one hand, Israel is in the midst of negotiating a peace
agreement with the Palestinians, releasing thousands of Palestinian
prisoners and is transferring spheres of power to the Palestinian
Authority; while on the other hand, Israel is engaged in a war against
terrorism, which has claimed the lives of 75 Israelis since May 1994, when
the Palestinian Authority took over Gaza and Jericho.
At least 25 terrorist attacks were carried out by these so-called
"prisoners of conscience," not to mention numerous more that were thwarted
before they could wreak the havoc intended.
Islamic Fundamentalist organizations, such as Hamas and the Islamic Jihad
are doing everything in their power to jeopardize the peace process and
harm Israel and its citizens and are recruiting impressionable youth to
become suicide bombers.
With regard to Amnesty International's allegations of torture, we would
like to reiterate that the Israel Government does not condone or encourage
torture under any circumstance. Torture is prohibited both by law and in
practice. Every complaint regarding interrogation practices is thoroughly
investigated at the Ministry of Justice.
Despite the harsh reality of continuing terrorism, Israel is doing
everything in its power to uphold the rights of all persons under its
jurisdiction while ensuring the safety of innocent individuals.