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ACTION SS-25
INFO OCT-01 ISO-00 SSO-00 /026 W
042531 010901Z /ll
R 301108Z NOV 78
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 2240
INFOR AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
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STADIS/////////////////////////
EXDIS
14. THE PROBLEM OF COOPERATION BETWEEN VARIOUS COMMANDS AND
ADMINISTRATIVE JURISDICTIONS, RAISED IN TWO CASES, THROWS
FURTHER LIGHT ON THIS QUESTION. IN THE CASE OF THOSE FIVE
SOLDIERS DETAILED TO ASSIST THE INTERROGATOR, FOR INSTANCE, ONE MAY WELL ASK WHAT JUSTIFICATION TH [sic] INTERROGATOR (OR HIS SUPERIORS) PROVIDED TO THE UNIT COMMANDER FOR THE DETAILS. UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES, IT WOULD SEEM TO HAVE BEEN QUITE IMPOSSIBLE TO BE OTHER THAN FACTUAL. IN ANOTHER CASE, THE APPLICANT, A RESIDENT OF JERICHO MILITARY GOVERNORATE, SAID THAT A GROUP OF SEVERAL INTERROGATORS FROM RAMALLAH, WHICH IS A SEPARATE MILITARY GOVERNORATE, CAME TO JERICHO AND ARRESTED A NUMBER OF STUDENTS, INCLUDING HIMSELF, IN THE STREET. THE INTERROGATIONS OF THESE ARRESTEES, WHICH THE APPLICANT SAID INCLUDED SEVERE BEATINGS, WERE BEGUN BY THE RAMALLAH INTERROGATORS UNDER MAKESHIFT CONDITIONS IN SOME ROOMS AND CORRIDORS OF A MILITARY GOVERNMENT BUILDING IN JERICHO OVER MOST OF A DAY AND A NIGHT, WHEREUPON THE ARRESTEES WERE TRANSFERRED TO THE INTERROGATION CENTER ATTACHED TO RAMALLAH MILITARY PRISON. IT IS DIFFICULT TO CONEIVE [sic] HOW THE RAMALLAH INTERROGATORS COULD HAVE BORROWED PART OF AN OFFICIAL BUILDING IN JERICHO IN THIS WAY UNLESS SOME ADMINISTRATOR IN THE JERICHO MILITARY GOVERNORATE HAD GIVEN HIS APPROVAL — AND THAT, WITH SOME KNOWLEDGE OF
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THE USE TO WHICH HIS BUILDING WOULD BE PUT.
15. ADMINISTRATIVE CONSIDERATIONS: INSTALLATIONS AND EQUIPMENT. WHILE MOST OF THE BEATING AND TORTURE DESCRIBED BY APPLICANTS APPARENTLY INVOLVED FISTS OR MAKESHIFT INSTRUMENTS, THERE ARE ALSO INDICATIONS OF THE PRESENCE OF ELABORATE INSTALLATIONS IN THE INTERROGATION CENTERS, APPARENTLY DESIGNED FOR ABUSING THE ARRESTEES. AN APPLICANT INTERROGATED IN NABLUS CENTRAL PRISON, FOR INSTANCE, SAID THAT THERE IS A ROW OF SEVERAL SMALL "REFRIGERATOR" CELLS IN THE PRISON COMPLEX, WHICH ARE VERY COLD EVEN IN THE HEAT OF SUMMER. DURING HIS INTERROGATION, HE STATED, HE WAS FLUND [sic] NAKED INTO ONE OF THESE CELLS AFTER COLD WATER HAD BEEN POURED OVER HIS BODY AND INTO THE INTERIOD [sic] OF THE CELL. ANOTHER APPLICANT, WHO WAS INTERROGATED IN HEBRON, SAID THAT A SPECIAL ROOM HAD HIGH-FREQUENCY AND LOUD IRRITATING SOUNDS PIPED INTO IT, AND HE DESCRIBED HIS STAY IN THIS ROOM AS THE MOST DIFFICULT STAGE OF THE INTERROGATION. UREAU- CRATICALLY [sic], THE CONSTRUCTION OF SUCH REFRIGERATOR CELLS AND SOUND ROOMS WOULD BE A FORMIDABLE ENTERPRISE. ADMINISTRATIVE OPERATIONS INVOLVED WOULD CERTAINLY HAVE INCLUDED THE MAKING OF PROPOSALS FOR DISCUSSION AND APPROVAL, FOLLOWED BY THE ALLOCATION OF FUNDS, THE SIGNING OF REQUISITIONS FOR MATERIALS, AND SO FORTH. BOTH OF THESE INSTALLATIONS WOULD ALSO REQUIRE MAINTENANCE.
16. THE EXPERIENCES OF ANOTHER APPLICANT, WHO WAS INTERROGATED
AND IMPRISONED IN NABLUS CENTRAL PRISON, AND WHO HAD WORKED AS
AN ELECTRICIAN BEFORE HIS ARREST, SUGGEST ONE SOLUTION TO THE
PROBLEM OF MAINTENANCE. THIS APPLICANT SAID THAT SEVERAL
ASSOCIATES ARRESTED WITH HIM WERE TORTURED WITH ELECTRICITY. A FEW MONTHS AFTER HIS OWN TRIAL AND SENTENCING, AN ISRAELI SECURITY OFFICER CAME TO THE COMMON PRISON ROOM AND ASKED HIS HIS PROFESSION. LATER, THE PRISON ADMINISTRATION OFFERED HIM
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A JOB AS AN ELECTRICIAN -- MAINTAINING, AMONG OTHER THINGS, THE ELECTRICAL INSTALLATIONS USED IN INTERROGATIONS. HE DID THIS WORK FOR OVER FOUR YEARS UNDER THE DIRECT SUPERVISION OF AN ISRAELI SECURITY OFFICER WITH THE RANK OF CAPTAIN, WHO WORKED ON THE ELECTRICAL DEVICES WITH HIM. THIS APPLICANT'S STATEMENT EXPLICITY [sic] PORTRAYS THE PRISON ADMINISTRATION AS ACTIVELY COOPERATING WITH THE INTERROGATORS IN MAINTENANCE OF ELECTRIAL TORTURE INSTALLATIONS. AND ONE WONDERS WHO ASSIGNED THE ISRAELI CAPTAIN TO THIS TASK.