Talking points: American Citizens Detained, Interrogated and Tortured in Israel
06 January 1999
Talking points: American Citizens Detained, Interrogated and Tortured in Israel
1. Due Process: Israel, a sovereign nation, has the right to arrest foreigners when the laws of Israel are broken. However, to detain, interrogate and torture without any charge and without access to due process in a court and with the services of a lawyer is not consonant with the Friendship Treaty of 1951, not to speak of the international agreements regarding human rights signed by Israel.
2. Torture: Israel is routinely violating international agreements signed by Israel regarding torture. This is a matter of record. The Department of State Human Rights Report details the practice as well as numerous human rights organization reports.
3. Failure by Israel to promptly report the detention of an American citizen: Israel routinely hijacks or kidnaps American citizens and fails to notify the American Consular authorities that the American citizen is detained. In case after case there is evidence that this is not an occasional lapse, but a routine practice.
4. Lack of appropriate response by the Department of State to these violations of both law and protocol as well as civilized behavior: The Department of State has failed to vigorously protect the rights of American citizens of Arab origin over a period of more than thirty years.
5. The conditions of detention are intolerable: Inadequate food, no provision for showers or clean clothes, rodents and vermin in the cells, and cells so small (approximately 2′ x 6′ x 5′) in which three prisoners may be lodged, are only a few of the deprivations reported.
In the face of these facts, the United States Department of State has an obligation to take vigorous steps to protect the rights of American citizens of Arab origin. While providing the minimum service to these victims, such as consular visits and provision of a list of lawyers that the victim can employ if he has the monetary resources, the American officials of the Department of State have not vigorously pursued the violations of human rights with Israel.
The many tools at the disposal of the Department of State to protect American citizens in these circumstances must be vigorously employed, without regard to the ethnic background of the victim.
