January 1999
SPECIAL POWERS OF INTERROGATION OF THE GENERAL SECURITY SERVICES (GSS)
1. The issue of interrogations by the General Security Services
(GSS) arises from time to time - especially in the wake of reports by
international bodies as well as non-governmental organizations (NGOs),
dealing with human rights.
2. A petition was recently filed in the Israeli Supreme Court
sitting as the High Court of Justice, by the Public Committee Against
Torture in Israel and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI).
The petitioners maintain that the GSS uses unwarranted methods of
interrogation (particularly the practice of "shaking"), constituting,
among other things, a violation of the provisions of the 1984 Convention
Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment (CAT), to which Israel is a party since 1991.
3. The High Court, composed in this instance of nine justices, held
hearings on this petition on January 13, 1999.
4. On January 3, 1999, the Ministerial Committee for the Promotion
of Legislation to Amend the Order for the Prevention of Terrorism, adopted
a resolution relating to interrogations by the GSS (Resolution No.
GSS/22), which reads as follows:
"RESOLVED THAT -
"Pursuant to the deliberations of the Ministerial Committee Dealing with
the Interrogations by the General Security Services, it be communicated to
the High Court of Justice that, parallel to further action in the Knesset
with regard to the legislation of a GSS law, the Government intends to
introduce in the Knesset a bill that would secure the existing powers of
interrogation of the GSS in its struggle against terrorism, as required in
order to avert the palpable danger of a grave impairment of the nation's
security. This with the proviso that these practices would not involve
torture, cruelty or inhumanity - and that it be in conformity with the
formulation arrived at in the Ministry of Justice, in coordination with
the GSS.
"As stated, it is intended to provide a statutory basis for decisions of
Israeli Governments, throughout the years, and in particular since the
work of the Landau Commission on GSS Interrogations (1987)."
General Background
5. Since its establishment, the State of Israel has had to cope with
grave acts of terror. In recent years, such acts are being perpetrated
mainly by extremist Islamic organizations which have openly proclaimed
their objective to sow death and destruction, indiscriminately, among the
citizens of Israel, through massive terrorist strikes - inter alia, by
despatching suicide bombers who blow themselves up in crowded places in
city centers, and through the use of car-bombs.
6. The avowed strategic aim of the Islamist terror organizations is
to bring about a halt to the peace process between Israel and the
Palestinians. Their tactics involve striking at large concentrations of
civilians. Their methods of operation and their targets clearly testify to
the fact that, in the terrorists' eyes, human lives are of no value.
7. Only in the past two years - from January 1, 1996 to May 1, 1998
- 96 Israelis were killed in terrorist attacks (among them 75 civilians
and 21 members of the security forces) and 707 Israelis were injured (621
of them civilians). Most of the casualties during the past year have been
victims of suicide attacks carried out by the Islamic extremist
organizations.
8. The perpetration of terrorist attacks denies Israel's citizens
their basic right to life and limb. This right is protected in all the
legal systems in the world as well as in international law, and it is
incumbent upon the State of Israel to fulfill its most fundamental
obligation, that is to say, its duty to protect the lives of its
citizens.
9. Every state may - indeed must - take measures necessary to combat
terrorists who seek to inflict harm on it and to disrupt public order and
the lives of its citizens. The means to deal with such terrorist actions
and to prevent them is to obtain information that will make it possible to
locate and immediately apprehend terrorists and their arms and weapons.
The objective of such action would be to prevent the terrorists from
carrying out planned terrorist attacks aimed at mass murder and
devastation. This information is obtained from persons who are known, from
reliable sources, to be in possession thereof.
10. Despite the numerous and unique difficulties facing Israel in its
battle with terrorism, Israel fully realizes that it must assume certain
restraints on its own actions, so that such actions will be in conformity
with the rights of the individual and with the principles of international
law.
11. The legislation initiated by the Government stipulates that the
use of interrogatory methods by the GSS not include acts of "torture" as
defined in the UN Convention Against Torture.
12. The use of interrogatory methods, in addition to being subject to
restrictions imposed by virtue of the proposed bill, is also under strict
scrutiny by the High Court of Justice, to which a person under
interrogation may petition, in real time, thus precluding any deviation
from the regulations that have been laid down.
13. Moreover, the person under interrogation is entitled to file a
complaint against his interrogators. Such complaints are dealt with by an
investigating body, under the professional guidance of the Ministry of
Justice.
14. With the adoption of the Ministerial Committee's resolution,
torture or inhuman conduct will be unequivocally prohibited under domestic
Israeli law. Israel is thereby responding to the call by the UN's
Committee Against Torture, and is meeting its obligation under the terms
of the Convention Against Torture, to ensure the incorporation of the
above-mentioned prohibitions in domestic Israeli law. While it is true
that the proposed bill authorizes the GSS to use interrogatory methods
necessary to prevent terrorist attacks, it must be emphasized that in any
event this authorization is subject to the overriding prohibition against
torture or inhuman conduct.