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The Artists' House, Tel Aviv, Israel


�And We Were Tortured


Curator: Ishai Menuchin

We thank: All the artists who volunteered to create art, in response to testimonies by torture victims, the staff at the Zaritsky Artists House in Tel Aviv who helped to set up the "And We Were Tortured" exhibition and the staff of the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, who supported the exhibition and participate on a daily basis in the ongoing campaign against torture in Israel.

The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel

P.O Box 4634, Jerusalem 91046

Tel. 02-6429825

Fax. 02-6432847

[email protected]

www.stoptorture.org.il

Production: Anu Deuel Luski, Ishai Menuchin, Lizi Sagie and Rachel Strumza

Translation: Ofer Neiman and Rachel Strumza

Design: Yuval Hefetz

Any commercial use of the material included in this book is strictly forbidden without written consent by the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel

� And We Were Tortured

Table of Contents

�. Ishai Menuchin And They Torture With Permission and Authorization ........... 5

2. RafiWeichert Instrument .............................................................................. 9

3. Motti Lerner Shay – GSS Interrogator ........................................................ 11

4. Gilad Evron The Supreme Court Judge Imagines Torture ......................... 13

5. David Reeb Cuffs and Time ...................................................................... 53

6. David Tartakover Captain George ...................................................................... 51

7. Michal Heiman Do-mino No. 10 ...................................................................... 49

8. Eyal Segal Unsound ................................................................................ 47

9. Michal Naaman Vanunu ................................................................................... 45

�0. Shosh Israeli Whereto ................................................................................. 43

��. Michal Goldman Pressure ................................................................................ 41

��. Rafram Chaddad Timeless ................................................................................ 39

�3. Larry Abramson Vaya’anunu ............................................................................ 37

�4. Roee Rosen Uzi the Uzi; Uzi Gets New Legs .......................................... 35

�5. Aïm Deüelle Lüski Homage to Joseph Kosuth, "One and Three Chairs", 1965-2012 33

�6. Hannan Abu-Hussein The Prisoner's Uniform ........................................................... 31

�7. Bila Berg The Silver Plate ..................................................................... 29

�8. Dudu Gerstein Cage ...................................................................................... 27

�9. Mohamed Badarne Nightmare .............................................................................. 25

�0. Rachel Erez Moment Of Silence ................................................................ 23

��. Anat Bar el No Title .................................................................................. 21

��. Sigal Primor 48:67:82 ................................................................................. 19

�3. Alex Levac And We Were Tortured 45 ..................................................... 17

�4. Miki Kratsman Ar-Ram Check Point .............................................................. 15

3And We Were Tortured

4 And We Were Tortured

And They Torture With Permission and Authorization

Ishai Menuchin

The following pages contain a sequence of testimonies about torture, ill-treatment and inhumane treatment of the "others", next to artistic representations of the victims’ words. We sent victim testimonies to artists, and asked them to take on an almost impossible task, to render a work of art from this text. Each testimony and each representation is, therefore, particular both to the victim and to the artist, while the corpus of testimony and work of art together raises a general social conundrum: How is it possible that members of Israel’s security forces are allowed to torture and furthermore, who is responsible for this?

Prof. Agnes Heller (2005) wrote that “There are many different characterizations and quasi-definitions of the decent person, but all of them indicate the same essence: responsibility."1 This means that individuals assume responsibility for their actions, for actions taken by other members of society and for actions taken by society as a whole. Yet, ministers, prime ministers, directors of security agencies and the direct torturers themselves all act with "permission" and "authorization" and they all prove again and again that "responsibility" is a nebulous and superficial term in social discourse.

David Miller (2001) examines the concept of "responsibility", arguing that there are four elementary types of responsibility: causal, moral, remedial and communitarian. Those who participate in the discourse usually view individuals as causally responsible for the consequences of their actions. Thus, for example, a General Security Service (GSS) agent who obtains information in the interrogation room is causally responsible for the manner in which it had been obtained, but the causal responsibility rests not only with him. Prime Ministers, directors of the GSS, and others who authorize a policy of interrogational torture, also disregard their elementary causal responsibility for the suffering inflicted on tortured detainees. When the question of responsibility for these offenses is raised in the public sphere, those with authority are quick to evade their responsibility. When former GSS director Avraham Shalom – who in 1984 gave the order to murder the terrorists caught on bus no. 300 – claimed that he had done so with Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir’s “authorization and permission”, who denied the claim firmly (but he did make sure that an amnesty was granted to all those involved in the murder and in the cover-up during the investigation committees' hearings).

Moral responsibility for crimes rests with those who can prevent it. For example, the Kahan Commission (which investigated the Sabra and Shatila massacre during the Lebanon war in 1982) extended the "sphere of responsibility to what is known as 'indirect responsibility' in which responsibility attaches not just to those who actually commit the offences but also to those who are able to prevent them but do not do so".2 Such is the moral responsibility of Israel's Attorneys General who can instruct that detainee complaints about torture be investigated, thereby preventing torture. It is obvious that those who are in charge of the GSS, those who participate in discussions about its interrogation methods, bear full moral responsibility for the failure to prevent torture.

1 Heller Agnes (2005: 15-22), “How to be an Upright Person in The (Post) Modern World”, In- Menuchin Ishai, Yovel Yirmiyahu (ed.), Can

TolerancePrevail?MoralEducationinaDiverseWorld, The Hebrew University Magnes Press (Hebrew).

2 Feldman Avigdor (1985: 79), “Legal Scenarios”, In- Menuchin Ishai, Menuchin Dina (eds.) The Limits of Obedience, The yesh Gvul

movement & Siman Kri’a Books (Hebrew).


Miller, (2001:460) who is clearly unfamiliar with the Israeli responsibility catch also examines the issue of one's responsibility to remedy the situation. He argues that the key problem in identifying those responsible for torture is that the search focuses on the past: “The question asked is always ‘Who is responsible for bringing this bad situation about?’ And never, for instance, ‘Who is best placed to put it right?’”3 When the identity of those causally responsible for harming a person is unknown, the authorities are required to assume responsibility and support the victim, regardless of the perpetrator's identity. This principle of rectification is supposed to ignore the question of factual causation or moral rebuke, and focus on the ability to make amends. Not surprisingly, government ministers, directors of the GSS and Attorneys General do not see themselves as responsible for rectifying the harm inflicted by GSS interrogators or IDF soldiers on their victims.

Miller (2001:462) also proposes a principle of communitarian responsibility in the broad sense: "When people are linked together by such ties, whether arising from shared activities and commitments, common identities, common histories, or other such sources, they also (justifiably) see themselves as having special responsibilities to one another, responsibilities that are greater than those they have towards humanity at large." In democratic societies, however, one cannot settle for this narrow form of communitarian responsibility. This form of responsibility should not be applied internally only. In democratic societies, it should also be applied with regards to acts committed by members of the community against external groups. For example, in addition to being responsible for the oppressed in their own society, all members of Israeli society are also responsible for the crimes being committed by their own government in the occupied Palestinian territory, with their active participation or by other members of their society. Israeli governments send the IDF and GSS to take action in the name of Israeli society and as our agents. Therefore we are responsible for their actions.

This means that collective social responsibility attaches to each and every member of Israeli society. Decisions are being made by government ministers, law enforcement and security officials to permit torture, with the appearance of authority (the authority to allow torture, which is absolutely illegal, does not exist). These decisions result in the application of causal, moral, remedial and communitarian responsibility to those officials with direct or chain responsibility for those actions while not relieving us, the Israeli collective, of our own responsibility to rectify their wrongdoings.

We avoid making personal decisions when we choose instead to discuss the “complexity” of the issue, and address the authorities or authorized interpreters of the law, such as lawmakers, legal advisors or judges. These diversions assist us in evading our personal duty to actually make decisions and take action. In fact, each and every one of us who opts for this approach is making a clear and explicit decision – a decision in favor of the acts committed in accordance with determinations made by the prime minister or the director of the GSS. Failing to make this personal decision amounts to ceding the right and duty to decide – which should be our own responsibility - for the way in which our society functions. Our failure to decide grants rights and power to someone else – or to the government – to decide for us.

3 Miller David (2001: 453-471), “Distributing Responsibilities”, The Journal of Political Philosophy, Vol. 9, No. 4.


Yigal Eilam (1991: 179-180) wrote: "officials of the executive branch and those who obey orders are never blind instruments at the hands of their leaders. They find it convenient to believe that, or to portray things in that way, only in order to evade responsibility for action or for the failure to take action, in cases in which they are involved, cases in whose execution they show great initiative and resourcefulness. [In fact, he also adds], the leadership wins prizes not for fulfilling its responsibility but for its willingness to release the people from their responsibility."4

So then, where does our responsibility for others end? Is there a limit? Moshe Greenberg (2006) describes the Talmudic debate as to why Amasa and Avner, two of King Saul's most prominent commanders, were punished even though they had disobeyed his orders by failing to participate in the murder of the priests of Nov (the latter had assisted David during his escape from Saul). Talmudic scholars answer the question by arguing that the two were punished because they had only refrained from direct participation in the killing of the priests, but they had not prevented others from killing them. Their abstention was not effective; they should have taken direct moral action to prevent the killing of the priests. According to the Jewish sages, sitting on the fence and keeping one's hands clean of blood is insufficient.5

Although the formal authority for action rests with the authorities – ministers, commanders, interrogators, officers – responsibility for the manner in which these authorities act, the manner in which they evade their responsibility and the manner in which they allow for impunity, in our name and on our behalf, for the perpetrators of torture and wrongdoings, is also our responsibility. Even if we have not tortured with our own hands, have not given the GSS permission to torture, have not authorized its officers to torture – even if we are not causally responsible; Even if the act was hidden from us and we could not have prevented it – meaning that we are not morally responsible; Nevertheless, we are still responsible for rectification and for our society's actions as a whole. In a democratic society, every one of us who enables the authorities to authorize the use of force is also responsible to see that it is applied in accordance with the law. Every one of us is responsible for repairing the damage caused by the authorities' wrongdoings, and responsible that they do not use torture. We are all responsible for the suffering inflicted on tortured detainees, and we are obligated to act in order to prevent this suffering.

4 Elam, Yigal (1991), Followers of Orders, Keter (Hebrew).

5 Greenberg Moshe (2006: 113-119), “Amasa, Avner and Yoav: Refusal to Follow Illegal Orders in Rabbinic Teachings” In: Ishai Menuchin

(ed.), Occupation and Refusal, November Books (Hebrew).


Nawwaf Ismail Hussein Qeisi: "They threatened that they would blow up my house and

arrest my wife and all my brothers and especially my brother the lawyer. They also threatened

that they would leave me in the isolation cell for half a year…"1

Muhammad Abdellatif Shimlawi: "The interrogators threatened me that they would bring my

wife if I don’t confess to acts that I did not commit…"2

Muhammad Jamal Muhammad Yaqub: "The interrogator threatened all the time to

bring a writ for a Military Interrogation. He said I could come out paralyzed from such an

interrogation…"3

Basel Akram Mustafa Ajjaj: "The interrogator wanted me to confess to every accusation he

hurled at me. He threatened to leave me on the screwed-down chair until I confessed or until

I became paralyzed like Luay Ashkar…"4

Samir Amour: "They threatened that the isolation would not end for at least six months [...] It's

frightening because you don't know what's ahead of you. You think to yourself. Is it possible

that they can hide you from your lawyer and the Red Cross?..."5

1 From the Affidavit of Nawwaf Ismail Hussein Qeisi to Atty. Mamoun Hsheem on 9 June 2005 at . Russian Compound detention center.

2 From the Affidavit of Muhammad Abdellatif Shimlawi to Atty. Jomanah Demoni on 22 December 2005 at Megido detention center.

3 From the Affidavit of Muhammad Jamal Muhammad Yaqub to Atty. Taghrid Shbita on 21 November 2006 at Megido detention center.

4 From the Affidavit of Basel Akram Mustafa Ajjaj to Atty. Taghrid Shbita on 10 October 2007 at Kishon detention center.

5 From the Affidavit of Samir Amour to Atty. Tagrid Shbita on 11 January 2007 at Kishon detention center.


Instrument

Rafi Weichert

I look at the photograph

Four people in hats lean forward to see him up close.

The dead-in-a-few-minutes is shackled, bound.

His eyes are shut, his tongue poked pokes through his lips.

He has never appreciated oxygen as he does now.

The one at the back looks at the ground.

He has no need to see his handiwork.

He twists the handles right and the iron screw

Bites into the victim's nape. A matter of seconds.

In front an iron strap presses against the trachea

And the screw splinters the neck cervical vertebrae.

This is not here. The year is 1901,

The place: Manilla. A prisoner in the Bilbid jail is executed

With a Spanish instrument whose primary glory

Was in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Since then he has brought forth descendants. Many of them

Exceeded their forefathers. Their development parallel

To the human family has created some symbiosis.

The victims have their instruments. The instruments

Have the muscles of the body, its veins, tendons, skin.

And then at a certain moment they become family,

Are present with one another at the last moments,

When the body ceases to know that it was.


Mahmud Faruq Hamed el-Bubali: “My hands were cuffed behind my back with plastic

handcuffs. The cuffing was forceful and painful […] I spent hours with these handcuffs and

suffered greatly because of the harsh cuffing. After about half an hour I lost feeling in my

hands as if my palms were going to disconnect, to be cut off.”1

M.R.: “They cuffed my hands behind my back with plastic handcuffs. It was extremely tight. I

complained about this several times. They told me that this was how it was, there was nothing

to do about it.”2

H.G.: “The soldiers searched my home. They began to search and one of them shackled

my hands behind my back with plastic handcuffs […] My hands started to hurt from the tight

cuffing with the handcuffs. I said that my hands were hurting and this made them shout at

me. They denigrated me and laughed and told me to shut up […] I shouted that my hands

were hurting. One of the soldiers came up to me and asked what was wrong and why I was

shouting. I said that the handcuffing was very painful. Then he took a look at my hands. I

thought he was going to unfasten the handcuffs but instead he twisted the knot even more

and tightened them further.”3

1 From the Affidavit of Mahmud Faruq Hamed el-Bubali to Atty. Taghrid Shbita on 7 July 2008 at Megido prison.

2 From the Affidavit of M.R. to Atty. Taghrid Shbita on 1 July 2008 at Megido prison.

3 From the Affidavit of H.G. to Atty. Taghrid Shbita on 1 February 2008 at Megido prison.

�0 And We Were Tortured

Shay – GSS Interrogator

Motti Lerner

Shay: Don't pretend, Daphna. You always knew where I was going when I got up in the mornings and entered the Ford Escort. You knew exactly where I do night shifts. You knew exactly where I get called when I'm on stand-by. When I came back home you could smell it on me. The kids also asked about those smells. You didn't need a highly developed imagination to know what I do there... so I thought that after fifteen years of marriage I could tell you...

No, I'm not afraid. This complaint doesn't stand a chance. No GSS interrogator will ever be found guilty of anything. I have the best legal counsel in the country. The judges themselves understand the problem...

If you keep your mouth shut, the kids won't know anything... Don't lie, Daphna. You knew and kept quiet. And this silence was always an approval. Yes. That's how I understood it. It was nice and comfortable for you, me getting a nice salary, overtime pay, pension fund, extra clothing and health insurance. And then I'd bring some olive oil in recycled coke bottles, straight from the press. Every--body here likes other people to do the dirty work. This little shit got caught with a pistol and two clips in his pocket. If it had been anyone but me, he wouldn't even be alive. It's only because I went by the rules that he brought this stupid case against me...

We have a GSS law. We have a Supreme Court ruling. We have directives from the Attorney Gen--eral. We have internal directives written by our own legal advisor according to the directives form

the Supreme Court and the Attorney General. I acted precisely according to these directives…

I interrogated thousands of Palestinians in the last few years. One ended up in hospital. Maybe two. That's it... Don't you threaten me, Daphna. You can take the kids and go. Go wherever you want. Let's see you get by two days without me... Yes, you can take the Toyota too. I'll even help you with the suitcases. If your father hears why you've left, he won't let you in the house... But if you stay here, you're here all the way, and you don't talk to the kids about it...

OK, OK, I'll tell you. It happened in December, the evening of your birthday. Your parents invited us and your sister for dinner. You don't remember? You called me once an hour so that I wouldn't forget. I interrogated him. Suddenly I see that it's already late. I was in a hurry. I put him back in his cell, shackled... he must have screamed, but no one heard. And after two hours the hands swell, they go blue. After three hours they lose feeling in their fingers...

I'm telling you the truth. The whole truth. I didn't notice. I forgot. I was tired. I had to buy you a pres--ent. Bring wine. Get your parents some flowers. It had nothing to do with callousness or disdain for human life...

Now you're happy? Great. Now go get me a beer.

��And We Were Tortured

B.S.: “They tied my hands behind my back with plastic shackles, and blindfolded me.

Afterwards, two soldiers held me from both sides and dragged me for several meters… they

pushed me forcefully and threw me into the jeep, so that my chest and face were on the

floor of the jeep. Afterwards, I felt and heard dogs entering the car and I felt them sitting on

me… “They took me to the GSS interrogation facility at the Russian Compound, where I met

a number of interrogators whom I know from previous detentions, like Itzik, for example...

They took me straight to the interrogations room. We were in an office where there were two

interrogators’ chairs side by side, and next to each seat was a table and a computer… and

there was also a chair that I sat on, bolted to the floor. The interrogator Itizk asked me to sit

on the chair, and shackled my hands from behind, and also attached my handcuffs to the

chair back. Then Major General Haim came in […] Since I refused to answer the questions,

they released my handcuffs from the tie that kept them locked flush against the chair, and

changed my sitting position such that the chair back was to my right, and they ordered me to

lean backwards at a 45-degree angle. One interrogator was behind me and the second was in

front, such that each time I lost the ability to hold up my body and my back the interrogator who

was behind me would push me forward or the one across from me would push me backwards

[…] I remained that way until I felt that my back and my stomach muscles were tearing. This

affair went on for about fifteen minutes each time […] of course with Itzik cursing incessantly.

He even spit in my face, and when I spit back, they released my hands from the shackles and

shackled them from the arm. An additional interrogator arrived, who held my other hand, and

they both began pressing on the shackles with the intention of closing it as tightly as possible,

which stopped the blood flow in my hands and caused very severe pains. This continued for

about ten minutes, until my hands swelled dramatically. Afterwards, they released the shackles

and I was commanded to sit in a ‘frog’ position – to sit on my toes, with my knees partially bent,

for 45 consecutive minutes, and all the while my hands were shackled behind me. Each time

that I would lose strength and fall, or lower my foot to the floor, one of the interrogators would

lift my body and the second would slap me and beat me on the soles of my feet.

Afterwards, they propped me back onto the chair, shackled my hands behind the seat of the

chair, blindfolded me and began questioning me, and suddenly I received a blow to the head

that stunned me, and I felt dizzy. They slapped me a few times, and, ultimately, they took off

my blindfold. In what followed, they released me from the chair and told me to stand in the

corner of the room, standing up, on my tiptoes, and without moving. In fact, this was the last

stage in the stages of the interrogation. At the end of this stage, Itizk or another interrogator

would go over to the paper that they had shown me, and mark off that they had completed

one of the torture stages, and again they’d start over…"1

1 From the Affidavit of B.S. to Atty. Ahmad Mustafa Amarah on 9 August 2006 at Russian Compound detention center.

�� And We Were Tortured

The Supreme Court Judge Imagines Torture

Gilad Evron

The investigators “Rami” and “Itzik” (not their real names) interrogate B.S..

They put B.S. in the interrogation room and ask him questions. B.S. does not answer. They move to the torture phase.

No court has allowed the use of torture. If the investigators “Rami” and “Itzik” do indeed torture people, they are criminals. If B.S. were to address the court, bringing a suit against the state and against his torturers, how would the judge regard his case?

Imagine a judge – better yet: a Supreme Court judge.

We may assume that the judge supposes, as do most people, that torture occurs in Israel every day. In order not to be disturbed morally by this, he represses this general supposition, and refrains from discussing this with himself. But it is possible that the claimant B.S. has addressed a suit, and that the issue has come to rest on the judge's doorstep so that he cannot avoid it. In order to decide in the matter, we assume that he listens to testimonies, and to some degree is forced to imagine torture.

How does a Supreme Court judge imagine torture? He's an honest man, the judge, so we assume. A serious man, and therefore it is reasonable to suppose that before accepting or rejecting the case, based on this or that excuse, and before he determines when pain becomes torture – if indeed there was torture – he will try to approximate the experience of torture, in the conditions available.

Let us assume that he has in front of him the sketch of the various torture positions, as you do. Let us assume that he picks torture # 2, as less intimidating and feasible in his chambers in relatively comfortable conditions.

For clarity's sake, and in order to imagine the Supreme Court judge, you may make use of the sketch of torture # 2.

Drawing: Dudu Gerstein

�3And We Were Tortured

Imagine the judge in his chambers. Imagine a man of about 60, of average build, fairly solid, who does not engage too much in athletics due to the exigencies of his work and his commitments to his family.

Imagine him loosening his tie, undoing the top two buttons of his shirt, and lying with his back on the chair seat (see sketch). True, the chair is padded, but still – a chair! He allows his hands and legs to fall down on either side, and the weight of his head pulls him downward towards the floor. It is possible that at first he feels a certain pleasure in the curving stretch of the vertebrae and the tight--ening back muscles. Some recommend exercise with a large ball. It is possible that the Supreme Court judge reflects that he should adopt this posture as part of his fitness regime, which he keeps postponing due to his pressing schedule. As a thorough man, we may assume that the Supreme Court judge tries to twist and push his legs under the chair and to reach under with his hands, so as to imitate the posture sketched. We may assume that his hands cannot touch his bent feet. He is surely trying to curve his body backwards, in spite of the pain in his arms and the loss of feeling in his leg muscles. Blood flows to his head, he hears his heart pounding, but of course, given his age and the loss of flexibility, he cannot touch his toes. In spite of that we may assume that the Supreme Court judge presumes that if he were a younger man, more flexible, he would have been more successful. It is also reasonable to suppose that stretching the abdomen in an unfamiliar position awakens in the Supreme Court judge all sorts of aches that were hidden until now, as well as fears lest something bad is happening in his stomach. Is he sick perhaps? The abdomen is very exposed in this position, and the genitals as well. Everything that a man tries to protect is now exposed to touch, uncontrolled. In this situation perhaps he sees on the wall the upside-down photo of his wife, his two children and his granddaughter. They surely look at him and smile, as family members always smile on walls and desks of offices, if they hang there at all. This sight may arouse, so we may assume, at least one question: would his son, his eldest son, for instance, withstand the systematic series of torture? Is he beginning to imagine his son shackled, lying in a pool of his own piss? Even if the Supreme Court judge tries, it is reasonable to assume that he immediately ceases to imagine this picture. His son is not suited for such things. He is a young lawyer, mild mannered and mild-spoken, and one cannot imagine any event or situation in which he would be tortured. We may assume with confidence that the judge does not see his son as a suitable candidate, one of the typical characters who undergo torture. Usually those who undergo torture belong to the category of young, active people, whose work is physically demanding, whose muscles are stronger, who do not shrink back form cold at night and form the sweat of a hot summer's day, who are used to curses, to the pressing physicality of bodies at a roadblock. These are also the characters, so the judge perhaps presumes, who can successfully accomplish position # 2 with relative ease. As for older people, we may assume that they would not require real torture. A slap or a shout, a threat to the daughter's virginity, fear and a pounding heart would certainly be sufficient. The Supreme Court judge is not required to decide in this case about those who do not undergo torture. Especially, and beyond all this, we may assume that the speculative aspect of this whole debate is obvious to the judge, since undoubtedly these tortures are not directed at Jews but only at Arabs.

By this stage the judge cannot bear any more pain and the feeling of paralysis spreading throughout his limbs. But the untrained muscles of his abdomen cannot support him – so we may assume – as he attempts to rise. We can anticipate the alarm that takes hold of him as the recognition pervades him that he may remain stuck, spread on his back across a chair. We may imagine the feeling of


tearing which develops in his internal organs, and the growing sensation of tickling and paralysis spreading through his limbs. We can also imagine the blood suffusing his downturned face, thicken--ing his breath, deafening his ears; the mucus and the spittle choking his throat and the extent of his helplessness. Due to the alarm which has taken hold of him, and his pathetic and abortive efforts to shake himself and roll from the chair, he reaches such a panic that it releases from his throat a sort of subdued shout, a sort of desperate and whining guttural squeak, linked to associations of death, but still expressing an internal contradiction. A contradiction between the respectability of the judge, his measured ways and his judicial responsibility, and his decidedly unusual - and so embarrassing – sight, prostrate on his back helplessly. But we may also assume that in spite of everything, in spite of the embarrassment and lack of correctness in his posture, the fear of death overcomes every--one, even the Supreme Court judge, and the squeak becomes a shout which echoes throughout his chambers.

We may imagine his clerk, a rather young female lawyer, who hurries in to the chamber. If we wish we may also imagine the sight of her knees leading to her thighs upside down, into her skirt, at least from the upturned judge's point of view. Surely she immediately helps him up, supports him under his arm so that he can sit down. “What happened? Are you okay? Do you feel okay?” these are the typical questions, the ones we may expect to hear from her mouth. The judge's hearing slowly stabilizes, as does his breathing, as does the associative psychological process which may or may not have occurred.

“I tried an exercise routine”, the Supreme Court judge may say and smile with some embarrass--ment, and it is possible also that he buttons up his shirt and even goes so far as to put on his suit jacket. We may assume that he does not want to raise a doubt in his clerk, nor in anyone in the public sphere, that in order to judge he amuses himself with physical experiments which may ap--pear ridiculous. Ridicule is the greatest enemy of the judge. The judges' depth of thought, so the general public surely assumes, allows them to leap over the need for personal experience.

We may assume that he feels that he has sufficiently approximated the experience of torture, and he is ready to decide and to rule and in the matter of B.S.. He has surely listened to the testimonies of "Rami" and "Itzik", who have denied, so we may assume, any unusual acts of violence and have portrayed the complainant as a dangerous man. The judge surely does not find the investigators guilty of torture, so we may assume, since this is what occurs without fail in every similar delibera--tion. He chooses to accept the testimony of the security personnel, since if he does not accept them, the floor will collapse under his feet, or so he feels. In his innermost core he knows, so we may assume, that the torture was indeed carried out as described, but he quiets his conscience with the thought that the sketched tortures, as he experienced one of them, in his way, are not terrible. Uncomfortable, yes, but no one is being electrocuted here, their bones are not habitually broken, their nails are not ripped out, no red-hot poker is shoved in their behind. Not terrible. He doubts that there are cells in this country where hooks protrude from the walls and irons from chains, as he has seen in documentaries about distant countries. In addition, certainly the judge believes that there is a worthy cause for the required physical discomfort, and that one should trust the serious intentions and the professional attitude of the torturers, so that they do not go too far and exceed the appropri--ate extent. And yet, the judge does not want to imagine the investigators not as they are when they are referring to him with the utmost politeness, as in their testimony, but as they lean, sweating over


people such as B.S. and probe his body and his excretions. He does not want to cross the threshold to their souls or to be imprisoned with them in the same room. So we may assume that in writing his ruling the judge refrains from imagining people crying, distorted in tortuous knots and stinking of their fears. Exactly so he refrains from imagining his family members twitching, beaten and terrified. Any such attempt seems to him a travesty. He also does not want to imagine the cry of any tortures person's mother, or the howls of his children. We may assume with some certainty that even if he imagined something, way back at the beginning of the thought process on torture, he does not want to imagine anything as he signs the ruling which in effect permits it.


הוועד הציבורי נגד עינויים בישראל מאמין כי עינויים והתעללות מכל סוג, ובכל מצב, אינם עולים בקנה אחד עם ערכים של מוסר, דמוקרטיה ושלטון החוק.

הם באשר אדם בני למען הפועל אדם, לזכויות בלתי-תלוי חברתי שינוי ארגון הוא הוועד ובשטחים בישראל השוהים אחרים זרים ואזרחים עבודה מהגרי פלסטינים, ישראלים, –ופגיעות התעללויות עינויים, מפני עליהם להגן במטרה פועל הוועד הכבושים. הפלסטינים אחרות של רשויות החקירה והאכיפה הישראליות – משטרת ישראל, שירות הביטחון הכללי, החוק פי ועל והדמוקרטיה המוסר ערכי פי על הוועד פועל בכך וצה"ל. הסוהר בתי שירות

הישראלי והבינלאומי.

The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) believes that torture and ill treatment of any kind and under all circumstances is incompatible with the moral val--

ues of democracy and the rule of law.

PCATI is an independent social change human rights organization that advocates for all persons - Israelis, Palestinians, labor immigrants and other foreigners in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory – in order to protect them from torture and ill treat--ment by the Israeli interrogation and law enforcement authorities - the Israel Police, the General Security Service, the Israel Prison Service and the Israel Defense Forces. PCATI acts in accordance with moral and democratic values, and the standards set in

Israeli and International law.

פעילות הוועד מתאפשרת הודות לתרומות נדיבות של קרנות בישראל ובחו"ל ותורמים פרטיים בארץ ובעולם.

The work of PCATI is made possible by the generous contributions of foundations in Israel and abroad and of private individuals.

Cordaid - Holland

Kios - Finland

Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation - Sweden

New Israel Fund -

SIVMO - Holland

The pooled funds of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the Royal Danish Representative Office to the PA, the Swedish International Development Cooperation (SIDA) and the Netherlands Representative Office to the PA Channeled

through the NGO Development Center (NDC) - HR/GG secretariat

The Sigrid Rausing Trust - UK

United Nations Voluntary Funds for Victims of Torture

הקרן החדשה לישראל


14And We Were Tortured ויענונו

ומתייחסת לפעילות צבאית "שוברים שתיקה", בידי כפיר, שנגבתה סמ"ר א.ה. מחטיבת עדותו של בכפר חארס: "וקיבלנו עוד הוראה: כל מי שמשנתון... זה יצא בגילאים 16-29, לא חשוב מי הוא, מי זה, אתם פשוט לוקחים אותו אתנו, שמים עליו אזיקונים ופלאנלית על העיניים. פשוט לוקחים אותו בלילה ]...[ סתם השאירו אותם שעות, קשורים עם פלאנלית ואזיקונים, כשהם לא יודעים מה הם עשו בכלל ]...[ היה איזה פקודה באיזה 4 בצהריים, פשוט לשחרר אותם הביתה. זה נמשך אל תוך היום... זה היה

יותר מ-12 שעות".

סמ"ר ב.ו. מחטיבת כפיר, מסר ל"שוברים שתיקה" עדות מפורטת: "יש חיילים שיודעים מהי המטרה של האזיקון ויש חיילים שחושבים שמטרת האזיקון זה לא להעביר דם משורש כף היד לקצות האצבעות ]...[ זה אומר שיש אנשים שחושבים שצריך ללחוץ את האזיקון עד הסוף, עד ששום טיפת דם לא תעבור מפה עד לפה ]... העצורים[ כל הזמן מתחננים שישחררו להם טיפה ]...[ בסופו של דבר, אחרי שהם בכו הרבה זמן והתלוננו, אז המ"פ אמר לשחרר להם ואחרי כמה זמן אפילו העבירו להם את הידיים מאחורי

הגב לקדימה ]...[ אחרי איזה שבע שעות ]...[ לא לוקח זמן עד שהידיים נהפכות לכחולות".

The testimony of Staff Sergeant A.H. from the Kfir Brigade, taken by the organization Breaking

the Silence, relates to a military operation in Kafr Haras: “And we were given another instruction:

Anyone born in the years… it came out aged 16-29, no matter who it is, you just take them with

us, handcuff them and put a cloth over their eyes. Just take them away at night […] They just left

them there for hours, blindfolded and handcuffed, and they had no idea what they’d done […] Some

order came down at about 4 pm simply to release them and let them go home. It went on through

the day… it lasted over twelve hours.”

Staff Sergeant B.V., from the Kfir Brigade, gave detailed testimony to Breaking the Silence: “some

soldiers know what the purpose of the handcuffs is and some soldiers think the purpose of the

handcuffs is to stop the flow of blood from the wrist to the fingertips […] I mean some guys think that

you should squeeze the handcuffs as far as possible so that no blood can flow from one side to the

other [… the detainees keep] on begging them to loosen them a bit… Eventually, after they cried

and complained a lot, the company commander said to release them and after a while they even

moved the handcuffs from behind their backs to the front […] after about seven hours […] it doesn’t

take long for the hands to turn blue."

Miki Kratzman מיקי קרצמן

"מחסום א-רם", צילום, 30x60 ס"מ, 1996"Ar-Ram Checkpoint", Photography, 30x60 cm, 1996


Alex Levac אלכס ליבק

"ויענונו 45", צילום, 50x70 ס"מ, 2012"And We Were Tortured 45", Photography, 50x70 cm, 2012

"החיילים לבשו מדים, אבל פניהם היו רעולות. החיילים קראו לאחים לעצור, בעברית ובערבית. רשאד ואנואר כבר שכבו מדממים על הכביש, בכניסה לחצר ביתם. אכרם עוד עמד איכשהו על רגליו. מחלונות הבית התבוננו במחזה האימים הזה נשותיהם של האחים וילדיהם שהתעוררו בינתיים לשמע היריות והצעקות. הם ראו איך חייל ניגש לאכרם הפצוע, בועט בחזהו ומניח את רגלו על ראשו ]...[ הוא אמר לחיילים שאחיו פצועים ושהפורצים ירו בהם. בתגובה ירה בו אחד החיילים וכדור שלישי ננעץ בבטנו. עכשיו גם הוא נפל על הרצפה. הוא שוב ניסה לקום, הסתחרר ונפל. החיילים הורו לו להתפשט ולהסתובב מספרים ואנואר אכרם למה. ברור לא הפצוע, ברשאד לירות החיילים המשיכו בינתיים משכבו. על שהחיילים נראו עצבנים מאוד. אחד מהם ירה לא פחות מחמישה כדורים ברשאד הפצוע, בזמן ששכב מדמם על הרצפה. כדור אחד חדר לחזהו ועוד ארבעה כדורים לבטנו. רשאד עדיין היה בחיים, שני האחים שמעו אותו גונח מכאבים ]...[ בסך הכל ירו בשלושתם 11 כדורים, שבעה בראשד, שלושה באכרם ואחד

באנואר.1

"The soldiers wore uniforms, but their faces were masked. The soldiers called on the brothers to

stop, in Hebrew and in Arabic. Rashad and Anwar were already lying on the road, bleeding, by the

entrance to their yard. Akram was still standing on his feet, somehow. This horrific spectacle was

being watched from the windows of the house by the brothers' wives and their children, who had

awoken by then, to the sound of gunshots and shouting. They saw a soldier coming up to wounded

Akram, kicking him in the chest and putting his foot on his head […] He told the soldiers that his

brothers were wounded and that the thieves had shot them. In response one of the soldiers shot

him, and a third bullet was driven into his stomach. Now he too fell on the ground. He tried to

get up once again, felt dizzy and fell down. The soldiers instructed him to stay down, take off his

clothes, and turn around. Meanwhile the soldiers kept shooting wounded Rashad, for no apparent

reason. Akram and Anwar say the soldiers seemed very nervous. One of them shot no less than

five bullets into wounded Rashad, as he lay bleeding on the ground. One bullet entered his chest

and another four bullets entered his stomach. Rashad was still alive, and the two brothers could

hear him groaning in pain […] altogether the soldiers shot the three of them with 11 bullets, seven

at Rashad, three at Akram, and one at Anwar."2

1 גדעון לוי, הארץ, 5.5.2012

2 Gidon Levi, Haaretz, 5 may 2012

Sigal Primor סיגל פרימור

"48:67:82", הדפסת למדה, 46x39 ס"מ, 2012"48:67:82", C-Print, 46x39 cm, 2012


ר.ב.: "היו איתי בחדר יותר מחמישה חיילים. כולם צעקו עלי, במיוחד האחראי עליהם. גם בחוץ כאשר ישבתי על האדמה היו חיילים שבאו ואיימו עלי שלא לזוז. הם איימו שאם לא אענה להם הם יתנו מכות לאמא שלי ]...[ הלכנו לסלון והם המשיכו לאיים. ושם גם איים עלי האחראי שאעצר ושלא יראו אותי והוא התקרב אלי עם הרובה שלו ורצה להרוג אותי. זה היה בפני אימי שאמרה שלא עשיתי כלום והם אמרו לה שתשאל אותי מה עשיתי. החיילים לא איימו על אמא, רק אמרו לה בצחוק 'תיפרדו מהבת שלכם, אתם לא תיראו אותה לתקופה ארוכה' ]...[ בבית לקחו אותי לחדר ושלוש חיילות עשו עלי חיפוש בעירום. בחדר נכח חייל, אמנם הפנה אלינו את הגב. אני אמרתי שזה אסור ושאני לא מוכנה לחיפוש

בנוכחותו, אז הוא אמר לי, 'אם את לא רוצה, נערוך את החיפוש בכוח'."1

R.B.: "More than five soldiers were in the room with me. Everybody shouted at me, especially the

one in charge. Also outside, when I sat on the ground; soldiers came up to me and threatened me

so that I would not move. They threatened that if I won't answer them they'll beat up my mother […]

We went to the living room and they continued to threaten. When we were there, the one in charge

also threatened me that I would be arrested and that I would not be seen again, and he approached

me with his gun and wanted to kill me. This was in front of my mother who said I didn't do anything,

and they told her to ask me what I had done. The soldiers did not threaten my mother. They just

jokingly told her, 'Say goodbye to your daughter, you're not going to see her for a long time' […]

At home they took me to a room and three female soldiers searched me in the nude. There was a

male soldier in the room, although he turned his back on us. I said that it's unlawful and that I do

not agree to a search in his presence, and then he said to me, 'If you don't agree, we'll conduct the

search by force'."2

1 מתוך תצהיר שמסרה ר.ב. לעו"ד תגריד ג'השאן בתאריך 9 בפברואר 2011 בכלא דמון.

2 From the Affidavit of R. B. to Atty. Taghrid Gahshan on 9 February 2011 at Damun prison.

מוחמד עבד-אלרחים חסין ברג'יה: " בזמן שחיפשו בבית, דרכו עלי לפחות שלושה חיילים כדי שלא אזוז, כשאני שוכב עם הפנים למטה. אחרי עשר דקות בערך הרימו אותי וזרקו אותי לרצפת הג'יפ. הייתי שרוע על גבי. ואז הביאו את אחי וזרקו אותו מעליי, לרצפה ]...[ שלושה חיילים שהיו איתנו הרימו את הוליכו אותי ]...[ אחרי שעה דבר ואז עשו איתי אותו וזרקו לקוצים, ומהרגליים אחי עבאס מהידיים יכולתי לעלות מהכאב ומפני שלא ראיתי את המדרגה, אז החיילים למדרגות של מכונית צבאית. לא וזרקו אותי לתוך משאית, על הרצפה. בתוך המשאית היו חיילים. היה גם כלב החיילים הרימו אותי שכל הזמן רחרח אותי ואת אחי. החייל הנחה אותו. אני לא הבנתי מה דיבר החייל אל הכלב. החיילים ואז ודיברו ביניהם בעברית. המכונית נסעה 15-20 דקות, קיללו אותנו בערבית במשך הנסיעה, ושרו נעצרה. עזרו לנו לרדת מהמכונית, ואז השכיבו אותנו על הבטן על רצפת אספלט. את אחי הרחיקו ממני. האספלט היה חם בשעה הזו. נשארתי באותה התנוחה שעה וחצי לפחות. ביקשתי שישחררו קצת את

האזיקונים אבל הם לא נענו..."1

Muhamad Abed-alRahim Barjiyye: " As they searched the house, at least three soldiers stepped

on me as I lay face down, so that I wouldn’t move. About ten minutes later, they lifted me up and

threw me onto the jeep floor. I was on my back. Then they brought my brother and threw him on top

of me, onto the floor [...] Three of the soldiers lifted my brother Abbas by the hands and feet and

threw him into the thorns, and then did the same to me [...] After an hour, the soldiers walked us to

the steps of a military vehicle. I couldn’t go up because of the pain and because I couldn’t see the

step, so the soldiers lifted me up and threw me into the truck, onto the floor. There were soldiers

in the truck. There was also a dog that kept sniffing at my brother and me. A soldier gave the dog

instructions. I couldn’t understand what the soldier was saying to the dog. The soldiers cursed us

in Arabic during the ride, and sang and talked among themselves in Hebrew. The truck drove for

15-20 minutes, and then it stopped. They helped us get out of vehicle, then lay us down on our

stomachs on the asphalt. They distanced my brother from me. The asphalt was hot at this hour. I

was in this position for at least an hour and a half. I asked them to loosen the handcuffs a little, but

they would not respond…"2

מתוך תצהיר שמסר מוחמד עבד-אלרחים חסין ברג'יה לעו"ד תגריד שביטה בתאריך 25 ביולי 2006 בבית המעצר מגרש 1הרוסים.

2 From the Affidavit of Muhamad Abed-alRahim Barjiyye. to Atty. Taghrid Gahshan on 25 July 2006 at Russian Compound detention center.

Anat Bar el ענת בראל

"ללא כותרת", חמר לבן, 15x15x25 ס''מ, 2012"No Title", White Clay, 15x15x25 cm, 2012


Rachel Erez רחל ארז

"דקת-דומייה", צילום, 130x90 ס"מ, 2012"Moment of Silence", Photography, 130x90 cm, 2012


ח.ס.: "הנני בן 17 ]...[ כל הליכה זו הייתי אזוק בידיים ומאחורי הגב. בשלב זה היו מכות לא חזקות שכללו ]...[ החזירו אותנו ליד עסק של צמיגים מכות על הראש באמצעות קת הנשק ובעיטות על הברכיים. במרכז הכפר ליד תחנת הדלק . אז החזיקו אותי בתוך צמיגים גדולים ואז דחפו את הצמיגים ו]התחילו[ לגלגל אותם על הרצפה כאשר אני מוחזק בין הצמיגים ]...[ לאחר שיחה הועליתי על רכב צבאי ]...[ כאשר ודחף אותי מחוץ לרכב. אציין כי הרכב היה הרכב התחיל לנסוע, פתח אחד החיילים את דלת הרכב במהלך נסיעה בדרך עפר. אני נפלתי וסבלתי משריטות רבות בידיים, בגב וברגליים. אציין כי לא ידעתי או חשתי שהוא עומד לדחוף אותי מחוץ לרכב. הרכב עצר ואז החיילים הרימו אותי והחזירו אותי לרכב ]...[ לקחו אותי לכיוון אזור בו יש והושיבו אותי על הדלת. חשבתי שהם עומדים להוציא אותי להורג מעין חורשה ]...[ יחד עם החייל היו מספר חיילים, ואז הביא מספר מתנחלים, אותם ראיתי כי בשלב הזה הסירו את הפלנלית ואז השכיבו אותי על הרצפה והמתנחלים איימו לפגוע בי כאשר החיילים מסביבי. בשלב הזה המתנחלים הצטלמו יחד איתי. אני מעריך את הזמן הזה כשעה והיא כללה לעג וצחוק שלהם

עליי."1

H.S.: "I am 17 years old […] Throughout this time my hands were bound behind my back. At this

stage I was beaten, not very severely, including being hit on the head with the rifle butt and being

kicked on the knees […] They took us back to a tire business, at the center of the village, by the

gas station. They then held me within the large tires, pushed the tires, and [started to] roll them on

the floor while I was held between the tires […] After a conversation I was put on a military vehicle

[…] When the car began to drive, one of the soldiers opened the door and pushed me out. I should

note that the car was driving on a dirt road. I fell down and received many scratches on my arms,

back and legs. I should note that I did not know or guess that he was going to push me out. The car

stopped and then the soldiers picked me up and returned me to the car and seated me by the door.

I thought they were going to execute me [...] They took me to an area where there is a sort of grove

[…] Together with the soldier were several other soldiers, and then he brought several settlers; I

saw them because at this stage they took the cloth off [my eyes. They then laid me down on the

floor and the settlers threatened to harm me, while the soldiers were around me. At this stage the

settlers took their pictures with me. I estimate that this lasted about an hour and it included them

mocking and laughing at me."2

1 מתוך תצהיר שמסר ח.ס. לעו"ד מג'ד באדר בתאריך 19 במאי 2011 בכלא עופר.

2 From the Affidavit of H.S. to Atty. Majd Bader on 19 May 2011 at Ofer prison.


Mohamed Badarne מוחמד בדארנה

"סיוט", צילום, 100x150 ס"מ, 2012

تصوير محمد كامل بدارنه، "كابوس" ،تصوير ،١٠٠/١٥٠سم ،٢٠١٢

"Nightmare", Photography, 100x150 cm, 2012

ואמרתי להם שייקחו יצאתי למרפסת בקומה שנייה ואז אני ולהרוס, "החיילים התחילו לשבור י.ד.: אותי. ואז הם עלו אליי, למרות שאמרתי שייקחו אותי הם חיפשו ושברו והרסו בבית. דודתי ביקשה שייקחו איתם את התרופה בשבילי אבל הם זרקו אותה על הרצפה. התרופה עלתה כ-2,000 שקל ]...[ נשארתי בחדר של המחנה שם עד הבוקר. כל הזמן היו חיילים וחיילות שבאו והתגרו בי ועשו סימני צחוק והם צילמו אותי במכשירים הניידים. יצוין כי הם הורידו לי את כיסוי העיניים ונשארתי עם אזיקים. משם הועברתי למעצר. בלילה התחילו החקירות. צעקות, קללות ואיומים שיפרסמו שאני זונה, ושאני לא עצירה ביטחונית, פשוט יפגעו בכבוד שלי; והם איימו לעצור את אימי ואחיותיי ]...[ החקירות התנהלו ביום ובלילה. החקירות היו סיוט, הייתי אזוקה בידיים וברגליים לכסא, ידיים מאחורה, וכל פעם שניסיתי

לרדת בישיבה שלי החוקר אמר 'תרימי את התחת שלך'..."1

Y.D.: "The soldiers started to break and destroy, so I came out on the balcony on the second floor

and told them to take me. So they came up to me, even though I told them to take me they searched

the house and broke and destroyed things. My aunt asked them to take my medication with them

but they threw it on the floor. The medicine cost 2,000 NIS. […] I stayed in the waiting room of the

camp until morning. All the time male and female soldiers came up to me and taunted me and

laughed at me and took picture of me with their cell phones. I should add that they took my blindfold

off and I was left with just the handcuffs. From there they transferred me to detention. At night the

shouting began. Yelling, cursing, threats that they would publicize that I am a whore, and that I'm not

a security detainee, that they would just destroy my honor; and they threated to arrest my mother

and sisters […] The interrogations went on day and night. The interrogations were a nightmare, I

was shackled on my hands and feet, hands behind my back, and every time I tried to sit a little

further down the interrogator said 'pick your ass up'…"2

מתוך תצהיר שמסרה י.ד. לעו"ד תגריד ג'האשן בתאריך 28 בדצמבר 2010 בכלא דמון. 1

2 From the Affidavit of Y.D. to Atty. Taghrid Jahshan on 28 December 2008 at Damun prison.


Dudu Gerstein דודו גרשטיין

"כלוב", איור בעט דיו )מתוך סדרת פרסומים של הוועד הציבורי נגד עינויים בישראל(, 21x 30 ס"מ, 1996 "Cage", Ink Pen on Paper (illustration for publication of the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel),

21x30 cm, 1996

א.ב.: "החוקר גיל נהג להשאיר אותי לבד ולצאת מהחדר, אך גם כשיצא מהחדר תצפת עליי מעינית הדלת, ואם ראה שמתחתי את רגליי, הוא היה נכנס מייד ומורה לי באצבעו להחזיר את הרגליים למקום.

הדבר גרם לי לכאבים. גם כאשר יצא מהחדר הותיר אותי אזוק בידיים ורגליים".1

A.B.: “The interrogator Gil used to leave me alone and go out of the room, but even when he left

the room he watched me through an eyehole in the door. If he saw me stretching my legs he would

come in immediately and tell me to put my legs back where they were by pointing with his finger.

This caused me pain. Even when he left the room he left my hands and legs shackled.”2

מתוך תצהיר שמסר א.ב. לעו"ד באנה שוגרי-בדארנה בתאריך 16 באפריל 2009 בירושלים. 1

2 From the Affidavit of A.B. to Atty. Bana Shoughry-Badarne on 16 April 2009 at Jerusalem.

Bila Berg בלהה ברג

"מגש הכסף", טכניקה מעורבת, תחתונה )חיצוני(: 130x70 ס"מ, עליונה )פרט פנימי(: 40x30 ס"מ, 2012"The Silver Plate", Mixed Media, Lower (external) 130x70 cm, Upper (internal detail) 30x40 cm, 2012


ר.ס.: "בחדר החקירות היה חוקר בשם ש., ]הוא[ השתמש במילים מאוד גסות כמו 'מצית בתחת שלך', ]...[ לפני שנכנסתי לחקירה ביקשתי ללכת לשירותים כמה פעמים. היה לי כי מצאו בתיק שלי מצית קשה עם האזיקים. החיילת ליוותה אותי ואסרה עלי לסגור את הדלת ופתחה את הדלת ]....[ היא לעגה

לי, אמרה לי בערבית 'את שמנה'."1

R.S.: "In the interrogation was an interrogator named S., He used very crude words like 'lighter in

your ass', because they found a lighter in my bag […] Before I entered the interrogation I asked to

use the toilet a few times. It was difficult for me with the handcuffs. The woman soldier accompanied

me and forbade me to close the door and opened it […] She mocked me, told me in Arabic 'You're

fat'."2

מתוך תצהיר שמסרה ר.ס. לעו"ד תגריד ג'השאן בתאריך 29 בדצמבר 2010 בכלא השרון. 1

2 From the Affidavit of R.S. to Atty. Taghrid Gahshan on 29 December 2010 at Hasharon prison.

Hannan Abu-Hussein חנאן אבו–חוסיין

"מדי האסיר" )פרט(, טכניקה מעורבת, 48x48 ס"מ, 2012حنان ابو حسني, "بدلة االسير", عمل تركيبي ،٢٠١٢

"The Prisoner's Uniform" (detail), Mix Media, 48x48 cm, 2012


ביתו אל הגיעו בוקר, לפנות 2:30 השעה בסביבות ה-1.2.2007, חמישי "ביום סוויטי: אלעזיז עבד הנחקר ורעיית האב ה-19.2.07, שני ביום ...[ ישראליים צבאיים ג'יפים לעשרה קרוב מחמוד בני של מזומנים לתחנת עציון בשעה 8:30 בבוקר[ הוא הכניס אותי לחדר סמוך והשאיר אותי שם ]...[ לאחר מכן הוציא אותי מהחדר והושיב אותי במסדרון ]...[ אחרי חמש דקות ראיתי שני חיילים באים לעברי מסוף המסדרון, לבושים במדים של משמר הגבול בצבע ירוק ]...[ היה להם מעיל בצבע חום, בלוי וישן, קרוע מבפנים ומלוכלך. הם הלבישו עליי את המעיל בלי שום התנגדות והחייל השני הוריד את הכאפייה מעל ראשי ושם לי אותה ביד ]...[ לאחר מכן הם תפסו אותי מתחת לבית השחי, כל אחד מצד אחר והוליכו אותי במסדרון והורידו אותי במדרגות ]...[ כשהגעתי לחצר, כשהם תופסים בי משני הצדדים, הם העמידו או וביקשו ממני להסתכל לעבר אחד החלונות של אחד החדרים בקומה השנייה אותי במרכז החצר השלישית. הסתכלתי אך לא ראיתי שום דבר בחדרים האלה. אחר כך הם לקחו אותי לחדר החיפושים

ואמרו לי להוריד את המעיל ולשים את הכאפייה על הראש ואמרו שאני יכול ללכת הביתה עכשיו."1

Abd al-Aziz Sweiti: "On Thursday, 1 February 2007, at 2:30 a.m., around ten Israeli military jeeps

arrived at the home of my son, Mahmoud [… on Monday, 19 February 2007 at 12:30 a.m., Mahmoud

Sweiti's father and wife were summoned to the Etzion station at 8:30 a.m. ] Captain Karni came and

called me […] He took me into the adjacent room and left me there […] Afterwards, he took me out

of the room and sat me down in the hallway. Five minutes later, I saw two soldiers coming towards

me from the end of the corridor, wearing green Border Guard uniforms […] They had an old, tattered

brown coat, torn on the inside and dirty. They put the coat on me without any resistance, and the

second soldier took the kefiya off my head and put it in my hand […] Afterwards, they grabbed me

under the arm, each of them on one side of me, and walked me down the corridor and took me to

the steps […] When I reached the courtyard, with them holding me from both sides, they stood me

in the middle of the courtyard and asked me to look out towards one of the windows of one of the

rooms on the second or third floor. I looked but I didn’t see anything in those rooms. Afterwards,

they took me to the search room and told me to take off the coat and put the kefiya on my head, and

told me that I could now go home."2

מתוך תצהיר שמסר עבד אלעזיז סוויטי לעו"ד איאד מיסק בתאריך 24 במרץ 2007 בכלא שקמה. 1

2 From the Affidavit of Abd Alaziz Sweiti to Atty. Iyad Misk on 24 March 2007 at Shikma prison.

Aïm Deüelle Lüski חיים דעואל לוסקי

"מחווה לג'וזף קוסות', 'אחד ושלושה כסאות', 2012-1965", הדפסת דיו, 70x100 ס"מ, 2012"Homage to Joseph Kosuth, 'One and Three Chairs', 1965-2012", ink print, 70x100 cm, 2012


עמאד מרואן יעקוב חותרי )במהלך הדיון בהארכת מעצרו של חותרי בביהמ"ש הצבאי בקישון, טען כתוצאה השמוטות ידיו את לו והראה בחקירה, קשים עינויים עבר כי הצבאי, השופט לפני עמאד מהכבילה(: "אני הייתי בחקירה צבאית קשה. עינו אותי וקיבלתי שיתוק בידיים, אני לא יכול להרים את

הידיים. במהלך העינוי אמרתי את הכול... אני מבקש שיטפלו לי בידיים..."

החלטה השופט: "החשוד... הדגים בפני את מצב שתי ידיו כאשר כפות ידיו נראו מוטות כלפי מטה בתנוחה לא טבעית... אני מורה כי החשוד ייבדק על ידי רופא המתקן על מנת לאמת את הבעיה הרפואית..."1

Imad Marwan Ya‘qub Hotari (During Hotari’s remand hearing at Kishon Military Court, Imad

claimed before the judge that he had been seriously tortured during his Interrogation and showed

the judge his incapacitated hands which was a result of the shackling): "I was in a severe 'military

interrogation.' They tortured me and my arms were paralyzed; I cannot raise my hands. During the

interrogation I said everything… I just ask that they take care of my arms…"

Judges Decision: "The suspect…showed me the physical condition of his arms; they seemed to

be like rods at the bottom, in an unnatural position… I order that the suspect be examined by the

facility physician in order to clarify the problem." 2

ישיבת הארכת מעצרו של עמאד חותרי בפני ביהמ"ש הצבאי קישון ביום 6.11.07 והחלטת השופט, סא"ל אריה אבריאל, 1מאותו יום.

2 From Imad Marwan Ya‘qub Hotari's Remand Hearing, Kishon Military Court, 6.11.2007, and the judgment by Military Judge, Lt. Col. Arieh Avriel, from the same day.

Roee Rosen רועי רוזן

"עוזי העוזי: עוזי מקבל רגליים חדשות", גואש ועפרונות על נייר, 37x55 ס"מ, 2012"Uzi the Uzi: Uzi Gets New Legs", Gouache and Pencils on Paper, 37x55 cm, 2012


ר.נ. )בן 16 שנים(: "נעצרתי במחסום חווארה ]...[ החיילים מצאו בתיק שהחזקתי טיל ו-3 מטענים ]...[ הצינוק היה בשטח 1.5 מטר על 2 מטר. בצינוק שכבנו על מזרונים, היה בו חור כדי לעשות בו את הצרכים שלנו, בצינוק לא הייתה מקלחת, תאורה חלשה בצבע צהוב פעלה 24 שעות ביממה ]...[ לאחר שישה ימים שבהם הוחזקנו אני והעצור האחר בצינוק ללא חקירה, התעייפנו מההחזקה שלנו בצינוק ואני הרגשתי תחושות של מחנק ועייפות, ואז ביקשנו מהסוהר לעלות לחקירה כדי להודות. עוד באותו יום העלו אותי לחדר החקירות. בראשית החקירה כבלו אותי לכיסא אך לאחר כ-10 דקות התירו אותי וישבתי חופשי. עמוס חקר אותי במשך שעתיים והוא הראה לי תמונות שלי עם חברים שלי, שהם מבוקשים, והוא אמר לי שאבי עצור בחווארה )דבר שגיליתי לאחר מכן שהוא שקר(, ואיים כי יעצור גם את סבתא שלי אם לא אודה. בחקירה הזאת הודיתי בכל דבר וסיפרתי לחוקר מי שלח אותי ולמי התכוונתי להעביר את הנשק והודיתי בעוד דברים אחרים. החלטתי להודות בגלל הלחץ שהוכנסתי אליו כתוצאה מהחזקתי בצינוק,

ומאחר שפחדתי כי ישאירו את אבי במעצר וכך לא יוכל לפרנס את משפחתי..."1

R.N. (16 yaers old): “I was arrested at the Hawara checkpoint […] The soldiers found a missile and

three explosive devices in the bag that I was holding […] The isolation cell was 1.5 x 2 meters.

In the cell, we lay on mattresses. It had a hole for performing our necessary functions. There was

no shower in the cell, the light was weak, a yellow color, lit for 24 hours a day […] After six days,

when the other detainee and I were in the isolation cell without interrogation, we got fed up with

being held in the cell. I felt suffocated and exhausted. Then we asked the warden to take us up to

interrogation so we could confess. That same day they took us up to the interrogation room. At the

beginning of the interrogation, they tied me to the chair, but after about 10 minutes, they released

me and I sat unencumbered. Amos interrogated me for two hours, and he showed me pictures of

me with my friends, who were wanted, and he said that my father was in detention at Hawara (which

I later found out to be a lie) and threatened that they would also arrest my grandmother if I didn’t

confess. During this interrogation I confessed to everything, and I told the interrogator who had

sent me and who I had intended to give the weapons to, and I confessed to other things as well.

I decided to confess because of the stress I felt as a result of being held in the isolation cell, and

since I was afraid that they would keep my father in detention and that as a result he would not be

able to support the family..."2

מתוך תצהיר שמסר ר.נ. לעו"ד מאהר תלחמי בתאריך 20 באוגוסט 2007 . 1

2 From the Affidavit of R. N. to Atty. Maher Talhami on 20 Augost 2007.


Larry Abramson לארי אברמסון

"ויענונו", שמן על הגדה של פסח, 20x22.5 ס"מ, 2012“Vaya’anunu”, Oil on Passover Haggadah, 22.5x20 cm, 2012

הבוקר משעות יותר, ארוכות זמן לתקופות כבול כשאני הכיסא על אותי להושיב "התחילו מ.מ.: המוקדמות עד השעות המאוחרות של הלילה, או מהשעה עשר, אחת-עשרה בבוקר ועד השעה חמש בבוקר למחרת, והחזיקו אותי באותו המצב, באותה התנוחה. המצב הזה נמשך בין חמישה לשישה ימים. יום ולילה ]...[ אחרי התקופה הזו התעייפתי, אזלו כוחותיי מחוסר השינה, מהכאבים בגב ]...[ והתחלתי לומר מה שרצו. כמעט במשך 45 ימים שיננו וחזרו באוזני על מידע ושמות של אנשים ובסופו של דבר

התחלתי לומר את השמות והתאריכים שהם רצו..."1

M.M.: "They started to put me on the chair while I was bound for longer periods, from the early

morning hours to the late hours of the night, or from ten, eleven in the morning until five AM the next

morning, and they held in the same state, in the same position. This situation carried on for about

five or six days. Day and night […] After this period I grew tired, my strength waned from the lack of

sleep, from the back pains […] And I started to say whatever they wanted. For almost 45 days they

repeated information and names of people to me and in the end I started to say the names and the

dates that they wanted…"2

ס"מ, X22.5 2012לארי אברמסון, "ויענונו", שמן על הגדה של פסח, 20

Larry Abramson, “Vaya’anunu,” oil on Passover Haggadah, 22.5X20 cm, 2012

מתוך תצהיר שמסר מ.מ. לעו"ד תגריד שביטה בתאריך 9 בנובמבר 2006 בכלא השרון. 1

2 From the Affidavit of M.M. to Atty. Taghrid Shbita on 9 November 2006 at Hasharon prison.

Rafram Chadad רפרם חדד

"נצח", צילום, 80x80 ס"מ, 2012“Timeless”, Photography, 80x80 cm, 2012


רפרם חדד: "הלילה מגיע ואני מרים את רגל שמאל שעה ארוכה, מחזיק אותה ביד. מוריד אותה ומחליף רגל. מרגיש שזו החלופה שלי לשינה, לחוסר שינה. אני בעולמות אחרים, הכאב בכפות רגליים כבר לא חשוב ואני לא יכול להרשות לעצמי את בזבוז התקווה של הלילה בחוסר שינה. הלילה הוא לילה, לא מרביצים בלילה ואליו אני רוצה להגיע, גם אם הם לא נותנים לי לישון. אלו כבר כמה ימים בהם הלילה שווה ליום, רק שהמכות לא מגיעות בלילה. חוץ מהשומר ההוא שנוהם כמו חזיר בר ומכה בי ברגליים

בכל פעם שהגוף שלי מרפה את עצמו.

אני חולם חלומות טרופים בהקיץ, על כך שאני הולך לישון. אני נופל ונרדם, אבל רק בחלום. לא יודע מה יקרה אם אפול וארדם. מה כבר יכול לקרות. אבל הנה זה קורה בחלום ובחלום לא קורה שום דבר."

Rafram Chaddad: "The night arrives and I raise my left leg for a long while, hold it in my hand. I put

it down and change legs. I feel that this is my substitute for sleep, for lack of sleep. I am in a different

world, the pain in the soles of my feet is no longer important and I can no longer allow myself to

waste the hope of the night in lack of sleep. The night is the night, at night they don’t hit and this is

the place I want to reach, even if they don't let me sleep. It's been several days already where the

night is equal to the day, except that the beatings don't come at night. Apart from that guard who

growls like a wild pig and hits my legs every time my body releases itself.

I dream troubled wakeful dreams, about going to sleep. I fall down and fall asleep, but only in

a dream. I don’t know what would happen if I do fall down and fall asleep - what could possibly

happen. But here it happens in a dream and in the dream nothing happens."

Michal Goldman מיכל גולדמן

"לחץ", טמפרה שעווה על קנווס, 60x80 ס"מ, 2012"Pressure", Encaustic Tempera on Canvas, 60x80 cm, 2012


אותו שהביאו לי סיפר הוא המשפט. בבית שבוע לפני מקבאטייה, זכארנה, וליד את "פגשתי א.ג.: אליי לחדר החקירה, העמידו אותו מאחוריי והראו לו אותי מעונה, וביקשו שישמור על שקט. הוא ראה אותם מענים אותי ושמע אותי אומר: 'ידי, ידי נשברה'. הוא ראה אותם מותחים אותי לאחור, מכופפים את גבי לאחור. מיד כשנפגשנו הוא שאל לשלום ידי. אני התפלאתי איך הוא יודע ואז הוא סיפר שראה ושמע אותי, וכל הזמן התפלל בשבילי ]...[ בשלב מסוים התמרדתי. אמרתי – 'תהרגו אותי אני לא יושב על הכיסא הזה!' אז באו שני חוקרים, סגל ואולי הסגן שגיב, שמו תחבושת עבה על זרועותיי ושמו שני אזיקים, כל אזיק בזרוע אחת. הם לקחו כמות גדולה של ממחטות נייר ושמו על ידיהם כדי שלא יכאב להם, וביחד משכו את ידיי לאחור והתחילו ללחוץ על האזיקים. זה גורם לסוג כאב שאי אפשר לתאר. הרגשתי שאיבדתי את התחושה בכפות הידיים, ובמיוחד בשמאלית, למשך חודשיים-שלושה. אבל אני

עדיין מרגיש כאבים בעצם )בין המפרק לכף היד(..."1

A.G.: "I met Walid Zakarna from Qabatiya last week in the courthouse. He told me that they had

brought him to me in the interrogation room, placed him behind me, had him witness my torture,

and asked him to keep quiet. He saw them torture me and heard me say: ‘My hand, my hand was

broken.’ He saw them stretching me backwards, bending my back backwards. When we met he

asked me right away how my hand was. I wondered how he knew and then he told me that he had

seen and heard me, and that he had prayed for me all this time […] At a certain stage I rebelled. I

said – ‘Kill me. I’m not sitting on that chair!’ Then two interrogators came, Segal and perhaps Lieut.

Sagiv, put a thick bandage on my hands and put two handcuffs on me, each handcuff on a different

hand. They took a large quantity of paper towels and put them on their hands so it wouldn’t hurt

them, and together they pulled my hands backwards and began tightening the handcuffs. That

causes a kind of pain that is indescribable. I felt that I had lost feeling in my palms, and particularly

in my left palm, for two or three months. But I still feel pain in the bone between my wrist and my

hand. Sometimes when I sneeze hard, I feel pain in the bones of my arms…"2

מתוך תצהיר שמסר א.ג. לעו"ד תגריד שביטה בתאריך 24 במאי 2006 בבית המעצר קישון. 1

2 From the Affidavit of A.G. to Atty. Taghrid Shbita on 24 May 2006 at Kishon detention center.

Shosh Israeli שוש ישראלי

"לאן", טכניקה מעורבת, 120x80 ס"מ, 2012"Whereto", Mix Media, 120x80 cm, 2012


מוסטפה עלי חאמד אבו מעמר: "הם הושיבו אותי על הכיסא, אזקו את ידי מאחורי משענת הגב ואת רגליי, והחלו לתשאל אותי. כאשר השבתי כי אינני יודע כל מה הם מדברים, כיסו את ראשי בחתיכת בד והחלו לתת לי סטירות חזקות בפנים ]...[ הם הכריחו אותי להצמיד את רגליי לרגלי הכיסא, כאשר משענת הגב מימיני ובגבי לא הייתה משענת. הם דחפו את גבי לאחור, והורו לי להתעמל – מה שגרם ומתכופף קדימה, – לכאב בלתי-נסבל. בכל פעם שהייתי נשבר וכעבור שעה לשרירי הבטן להיתפס, הייתי חוטף מכות קשות בפניי. התרגיל נמשך כשעה, לאחר מכן הפוגה של כחמש דקות ואז חזר על עצמו שוב. לאחר כשעתיים בערך מהעינוי הזה, וכשכבר נגמר לי האוויר ולא יכולתי להחזיק יותר מעמד, שחררו החוקרים את האזיקים מידיי וכיסו את זרועותיי בחתיכות של ספוג ואז סגרו את האזיקים מעל הספוג, במעלה הזרועות ולא ליד כפות-הידיים. לאחר מכן תפסו שני חוקרים, כל אחד זרוע, והחלו ללחוץ בכוח על האזיקים, מה שחסם את עורקיי, ולאחר עשר דקות של לחץ כזה זרועותיי התנפחו מאוד, עד

כדי שלא יכלו להסיר מהן את האזיקים..."1

Mustafa Ali Hammad Abu Mu'ammar: "They sat me down on a chair, shackled my hands behind

the back of the chair – and my legs – and began questioning me. When I answered that I didn’t know

what they were talking about, they would cover my head with a piece of fabric and begin slapping

me hard across the face […] They forced me to bring my legs flush up against the legs of the chair,

with the back of the chair to my right and there was no support for my back. They pushed my back

backwards and instructed me to exercise, which caused my stomach muscles to become cramped,

and after about an hour, brought about insufferable pain. Each time that I would break and bend

forwards, I would receive harsh blows to my face. This exercise went on for about an hour, followed

by a break of about five minutes, and then it was repeated. After about two hours of this torture,

when I was already out of breath and I couldn’t hold up any longer, the interrogators released my

hand shackles and covered my arms with pieces of sponge, and then closed the shackles over the

sponge higher up along my arms, not near my hands. Afterwards, two interrogators grabbed me,

one arm each, and began tightening the shackles with force, which blocked my arteries, and after

ten minutes of pressure like that my arms swelled very much, to the point that they were unable to

remove the handcuffs from them…"2

מתוך תצהיר שמסר מוסטפה עלי חאמד אבו מעמר לעו"ד אחמד מ. אמארה בתאריך 31 ביולי 2006 בבית המעצר שקמה. 1

2 From the Affidavit of Mustafa Ali Hammad Abu Mu'ammar to Atty. Ahmed M. Amara on 31 July 2006 at Shikma detention center.

Michal Naaman מיכל נאמן

"ואנונו", ריטוש כחול עם עט כדורי על זירוקס מתוך הגדת פסח, 29.5x21 ס"מ, 2002"Vanunu", Blue Retouch with ballpoint Pen on Xerox Page from the Passover Haggadah, 29.5x21, 2002


ראמי עבד רבו: "במהלך 3 הימים האלה היינו כבולים באזיקים מפלסטיק והחיילים לא סיפקו לנו אוכל ומים והשתמשו בנו כמגנים אנושיים כאשר היו מכניסים אותנו לבתים לפני שהם היו נכנסים אליהם כדי לבדוק על-פי הוראתם אם ישנם אנשים בתוך הבתים ]...[ למחרת היום בסביבות השעה 5:00 הורו לנו החיילים לצאת מהבית איתם ולהתקדם בתוך השכונה כאשר הם היו מורים לנו ללכת בקדמת הכח כאשר החיילים הולכים מאחורינו ומכוונים את נשקם לעברנו. ביום זה הורו לנו החיילים להכנס ראשונים ל-3 בתים כדי לערוך בתוכם חיפוש ולוודא שאין בהם אנשים. החיילים לאחר שהיינו יוצאים מהבית היו מכניסים כלב ולאחר שהכלב היה יוצא מהבית היו החיילים בודקים מכשיר אשר היה תלוי על צווארו ורק

לאחר מכן היו נכנסים לתוך הבית ומתמקמים בו."1

Rami Abed Rabbo: "During these three days we were shackled with plastic handcuffs and the

soldiers did not provide us with food or water, and they used us as human shields when they would

send us into houses before they entered themselves, and on their orders checking if there were

people in the houses [...] The next morning around 05:00 the soldiers ordered us to leave the house

with them and to advance within the neighborhood, instructing us to walk at the front of the force

with the soldiers behind us and aiming their weapons toward us. On that day the soldiers ordered

us to enter first to three different houses in order to carry out a search and make sure there were no

people inside. The soldiers, after we would exit the house, would send a dog and after it exited they

would check a mechanism hanging around its neck and only then entering the house and setting

up there.”2

סמ, X 2002מיכל נאמן, "ואנונו", ריטוש כחול עם עט כדורי על זירוקס מתוך הגדת פסח, 29.521

Michal Naaman, "Vanunu", a blue retouch on xerox page from the Passover Haggadah,

29.5X21, 2002

מתוך תצהיר שמסר ראמי עבד רבו לעו"ד מאהר תלחמי בתאריך 3 בספטמבר 2009 בכלא אשל. 1

2 From the Affidavit of Rami Abed Rabbo to Atty. Maher Talhami on 3 September 2009 at Eshel prison.

Eyal Segal אייל סגל

"ָרעּוַע", שמן על בד, 20x30 ס"מ, 2012"Unsound", Oil on Canvas, 20x30 cm, 2012


ד.נ.: "את יודעת איך זה שלא ראית את השמים ולא הרגשת את האוויר במשך 35 ימים?... אני כמעט לא ישן, לפעמים מכה על דלת התא באגרופים כדי לפרוק עצבים... אני עייף כל הזמן. אין מה לעשות, אין שום תעסוקה, יש רק ספר קוראן, שום ספר אחר, לא יוצאים להפסקות, לא נושמים אוויר נקי ונורמאלי.

אתה כל הזמן מפחד כי אתה לא יודע מה יעשו איתך..."1

D.N.: "Do you know what it's like not to see the sky, not to breathe the air for 35 days? … I barely

sleep, sometimes I bang my fists on the cell door just to release tension …. I am tired all the time.

There is nothing to do, nothing to occupy oneself, only a Quran, no other books, there are no

breaks, you do not breathe clean, normal air. You are always afraid because you don't know what

they'll do with you…"2

מתוך תצהיר שמסר ד.נ. לעו"ד תגריד שביטה בתאריך 13 בנובמבר 2006 בבית המעצר פתח תקווה. 1

2 From the Affidavit of D.N. to Atty. Taghrid Shbita on 13 November 2006 at Petah Tikva Detention Center.

Michal Heiman מיכל היימן

דו-מינו מס' 10 )מיכה קירשנר, הודא מסעוד, מחנה הפליטים ג'בליה, 1988 / אלברט לונד, הקריצה ההיסטרית, 1889(, סקנוגרמות/ רדי-מייד מעובד, 50x70 ס"מ, 2008Do-mino No. 10 (Micha Kirshner, Huda Masud, Jabalia Refugee Camp, 1988/ Albert Londe, The Hysterical Wink, 1889), Scanograms / Manipulated Readymades, 50x70 cm, 2008


ג'לאל חאלד מוחמד צואפטה: "ביום השני או השלישי הביאו סוג חדש של אזיקים ממתכת: הצמיד נראה יותר גדול. אזקו בהן את ידיי מהזרועות למטה, בשתי הידיים )בין שורש היד לבין המרפק(. שני חוקרים לחצו כל אחד על הצמיד של אזיק על הזרוע, שניהם לחצו ביחד. זה גרם לכאב נוראי, כמובן האזיקים האלה היו בנוסף לאזיקים הרגילים שהיו לי כל הזמן על הידיים. אני צעקתי ולא עזר לי. בתרגיל עם האזיקים הגדולים השתמשו פעמיים ביום השני, ועוד פעם כעבור עוד יומיים. בין כל שאלה ותשובה

שלא מצאה חן בעיניהם עשו אחד התרגילים שהזכרתי..."1

Jalal Khaled Mohammad Sawafta: "On the second or third day, they brought a new kind of metal

shackles - the ring looked bigger. They shackled my hands from the arms, on both hands (between

the wrist and the elbow). Two interrogators each pressed down on the ring of the shackle on my

arm - both of them pressed together. This caused me horrific pain. Of course, these shackles were

in addition to the regular shackles that were on my hands the whole time. I shouted and it didn’t

help me. They did the drill with the large shackles twice on the second day, and again two days

later. Between every question and answer that they didn’t like, they performed one of the drills that

I mentioned…"2

מתוך תצהיר שמסר ג'לאל חאלד מוחמד צואפטה לעו"ד תגריד שביטה בתאריך 20 בפברואר 2008 בבית מעצר הקישון. 1

2 From the Affidavit of Jalal Khaled Mohammad Sawafta to Atty. Taghrid Shbita on 20 February 2008 at Kishon Detention Center.

בהג'ת יאמן: "החקירה הייתה עינוי ממש, הייתה חקירה קשה ביותר שכללה מספר שיטות של עינויים קשים: שיטה ראשונה הייתה שאוזקים את ידיי מאחור ורגליי קשורות מאחור תחת הכיסא. חוקר דוחף אותי כך שאני יושב על כיסא עם גב מוטה לאחור, כשממשיכים להכות בבטני. תנוחה זו נמשכה כרבע שעה, ואז החוקר היה מושך אותי בחוזקה קדימה, וחוזר חלילה. בשיטה זו השתתפו המנהל, אברי, דודו ואריאל. שיטה שנייה הייתה ששמים לי אזיק קצת מתחת למרפק ולוחצים בחוזקה למשך זמן, ומרפים, וכך חוזרת הפעולה. ידי הייתה מתנפחת ומדממת. כשהיא דיממה לא הפסיקו, אלא שמו גרביים ולחצו מחדש. אברי היה עושה שיטה זו. שיטה שלישית הייתה שאני יושב בכריעה על כפות רגליי, והחוקרים דוחפים אותי לאחור כשגבי נשען לאחור, כך שאני מרגיש כאבי תופת בגבי. אני פשוט הרגשתי מבוהל, והיו לי כאבי תופת בגב והרגשתי שגבי עומד להישבר ממש, וצעקתי ובכיתי והתחננתי אך העינוי לא נפסק. עם גמר החקירה, בשעה ארבע לפנות בוקר בערך, היו מורידים אותי לתא. וכל הזמן היו רעשים

בתא, דפיקות בדלת, והייתי אפילו שומע את הצעקות שלי עצמי בזמן החקירה שכנראה הקליטו..."�

Bahjat Yamen: "The interrogation was real torture, a most difficult interrogation that included, a number of

methods of severe torture: the first method was to handcuff me from behind, with my legs tied backwards

under the chair. The interrogator would push me back so that I was sitting on the seat while leaning

backwards, and at the same time they kept beating me on the stomach. This position was maintained for

about fifteen minutes, and then the interrogator would forcefully yank me forward. And then it would begin

all over again. Participating in this method were the director, Avri, Dudu and Ariel. A second method was

to put a handcuff just below my elbow and press down hard for some time, then let up, and repeat the

same action. My arm would swell up and bleed. When it bled they did not stop, but rather put socks on

it and pressed again. Avri used this method. A third method was that while I was squatting down on the

balls of my feet, the interrogators would push me backwards, causing me to feel excruciating pain in my

back. I simply felt terrified, and I had excruciating pains in my back and I felt that my back was about to

really break, and I yelled and cried and begged, but the torture did not stop. When the interrogation was

over, at approximately 4 in the morning, they took me down to the cell. And all the time there were noises

in the cell – knocking at the door… and I would even hear my own screams during the interrogation, which

they had apparently taped."�

מתוך תצהיר שמסר בהג'ת יאמן לעו"ד לביב ג'סאן חביב בתאריך 26 בדצמבר 2004 בכלא שטא. �

2 From the Affidavit of Bahjat Yamen to Atty. Labib Ghassan Habib on 26 December 2004 at the Shata prison.


David Tartakover דוד טרטקובר

"קפטן ג'ורג'", צילום, )צילום: דן ברונפלד(, גודל משתנה, 20�2"Captain George", Photography, (Photography: Dan Bronfeld), Varied Sizes, 2012

David Reeb דוד ריב

"אזיקים וזמן", אקריליק על בד, 70x100 ס"מ, 2012"Cuffs and Time", Acrylic on Canvas, 70x100 cm, 2012


בכלא לסוהרים אסירים בין אלים שהתפתח בעימות ה-22.10.07 בליל אנושות נפצע אשכר, מוחמד החולים בבית לבקרו אמו הגיעה כאשר בבאר-שבע. סורוקה החולים בבית לטיפול והועבר קציעות, היא מצאה אותו שוכב מחוסר הכרה ביחידה לטיפול נמרץ, מכשיר הנשמה בפיו, ידיו כבולות למיטתו באזיקים, ורגליו אזוקות זו לזו. לדברי האם נכחו בחדר ארבעה שומרים. היא שאלה מדוע הם אוזקים את

בנה, ואם הם מאמינים שיוכל לתקוף אותם, אך הם השתיקו אותה.1

מוחמד אשכר נפטר מאוחר יותר מפציעתו, בעודו כבול באזיקים.

Mohammed Ashkar was fatally wounded on 22 October 2007 during a violent confrontation between

prisoners and wardens at Ketziot Prison. Ashkar was taken to Soroka Hospital in Beersheva for

treatment. When his mother came to visit him she found him lying unconscious in the intensive

care unit, a ventilator attached to his mouth. His hands were cuffed to the bed and his legs were

cuffed together. According to the mother four guards were present in the room. She asked why her

son had been cuffed and whether they believed that he was in a position to attack them, but they

silenced her.2

Mohammed Ashkar died later from his wounds while still shackled.

מתוך תצהיר שמסרה היג'ר מוחמד חסן אשכר לעו"ד תגריד שביטה בתאריך 5 בנובמבר 2007 בביתה בכפר סיידא. 1

2 From the Affidavit of Higar Mohammed Hasan Ashkar to Atty. Taghrid Shbita on 5 November 2007 at Saida village.

לארשיבstoptorture.org.il/.../2015/10/and-we-were-totured-en.pdfcommission (which investigated...

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