Facts such as these explain why the ICC is conducting preliminary investigations into possible war crimes by Israel.
Israel has failed to launch a single criminal investigation for torture despite more than 1,000 complaints by victims since 2001.
"Last week, the Tel Aviv newspaper Haaretz revealed that the justice ministry unit responsible for investigating torture complaints, known by its Hebrew acronym Mivtan, employs only one investigator.
Mivtan “has never launched a single criminal investigation against a Shin Bet agent, even though it has examined many hundreds of complaints,” Haaretz reports, referring to the Israeli secret police agency also commonly known as Shabak, the Israel Security Agency or the General Security Service.
The fact that there is only a single investigator means “it’s unlikely that complaints can be thoroughly examined,” Haaretz states. “In practice, then, the unit does not interfere with the Shin Bet’s work, even though complainants have reported harsh and prohibited forms of torture – including severe beatings and extensive sleep deprivation.”
From 2001 to 2008, nearly 600 complaints were submitted to Mivtan, but every single one was dismissed. During that period, the investigations were carried out by a Shin Bet employee, meaning in effect that the agency that was accused of torture was in charge of investigating itself.
In 2013, the justice ministry named an ostensibly more independent person to head the unit, but with no impact: none of the approximately 300 inquiries conducted since the appointment resulted in a single criminal investigation either, according to Haaretz."
https://electronicintifada.net/blog...il&utm_term=0_e802a7602d-f8568e838c-290656189
Israel has failed to launch a single criminal investigation for torture despite more than 1,000 complaints by victims since 2001.
"Last week, the Tel Aviv newspaper Haaretz revealed that the justice ministry unit responsible for investigating torture complaints, known by its Hebrew acronym Mivtan, employs only one investigator.
Mivtan “has never launched a single criminal investigation against a Shin Bet agent, even though it has examined many hundreds of complaints,” Haaretz reports, referring to the Israeli secret police agency also commonly known as Shabak, the Israel Security Agency or the General Security Service.
The fact that there is only a single investigator means “it’s unlikely that complaints can be thoroughly examined,” Haaretz states. “In practice, then, the unit does not interfere with the Shin Bet’s work, even though complainants have reported harsh and prohibited forms of torture – including severe beatings and extensive sleep deprivation.”
From 2001 to 2008, nearly 600 complaints were submitted to Mivtan, but every single one was dismissed. During that period, the investigations were carried out by a Shin Bet employee, meaning in effect that the agency that was accused of torture was in charge of investigating itself.
In 2013, the justice ministry named an ostensibly more independent person to head the unit, but with no impact: none of the approximately 300 inquiries conducted since the appointment resulted in a single criminal investigation either, according to Haaretz."
https://electronicintifada.net/blog...il&utm_term=0_e802a7602d-f8568e838c-290656189
