Torture in Israel has again become routine

Hundreds of Palestinians were
subject to Shin Bet security
service interrogations defined
as torture, inhumane or
humiliating during each of the
first six months of the year,
compared to dozens in September
2001, the human rights group
said.

The abuse of Palestinian

suspects has worsened and can justifiably be
termed torture under criteria established by
international law, according to the report.
Moreover, such use of torture in interrogation
violates a ruling reached by Israel's High
Court in 1999.

"Torture in Israel has once again become
routine," the report's writers conclude. They
charge that Israeli authorities such as the
High Court and attorney general, which are
supposed to monitor the Shin Bet and guarantee
that its interrogation procedures conform with
the law, have failed to discharge such
responsibility. Rather than supervising the
Shin Bet, these authorities have simply rubber
stamped the security service's decisions.

In past months, the High Court rejected all 124
petitions submitted by the committee demanding
that Palestinian suspects be allowed to confer
with their attorneys, the report notes.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=330457&contrassID=2&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

they actually made a law saying you can only torture people for serious purposes which apparently implies that there was a problem with doing it just for fun (which I guess is unpalatable even for the Israeli's).

Torture is not far from the Israeli life experience. Too real. If there is a good enough reason, they all do it and claim they didn't. What about the LA and Chicago cops? Don't they use sleep deprivation and threats? As the final paragraph states, denial of council isn't the same as torture.

been there, done that, they just never had the balls to actually codify it.

I think those who are charged with the task of doing so do the best they can.