CIA Torture and other War Crimes

"Ethically, torture degrades the country that permits it, the organization that carries it out and the individuals who perform it. Doctors are not present during torture as it would violate the Hippocratic Oath, so it is up to the torturer to decide how far to go. If a victim dies while being interrogated by torture, as has happened a number of times in both Afghanistan and Iraq, it is both a war crime and murder."

Licence to kill - Samson is the latest incarnation of Israel's policy of murdering Palestinians

You know if they can disguise themselves as Arabs to kill Palestinians, they can also do "other sorts of things" disguised as Arabs. But, everyone knows that Israelis would never, ever do such a thing - right???

by Saleh Al-Naami, Al-Ahram Weekly - July 31, 2007

The four men in traditional Arab garb didn't attract the attention of Ahmed Khalil, 27, when he drew near his farm not far from the town of Beit Hanun in northern Gaza. They looked like the vegetable merchants who usually come to buy produce in the early hours of the day. But as soon as they approached, two of them fired at his head with pistols equipped with silencers. He died immediately.

The four men, disguised as Palestinians, were members of the most recent death squad formed by the Israeli government in Gaza to eliminate Palestinian fighters. The four thought that Khalil was a member of the resistance movement on his way to carry out an operation against an Israeli target, Israeli military sources later said. The Southern Zone Command of the Israeli army said that the death squad was formed on instructions of the Israeli mini-cabinet, which urged the army chiefs of staff to take more aggressive action against the resistance in Gaza, so as to end the firing of local-made rockets at Israeli settlements.

The new death squad is code-named Samson. It is a new edition of the Arabists, or units made up of men in Arab garb with orders to attack resistance men deep inside Palestinian territories. On the outskirts of Gaza, members of such squads often abduct farmers and hand them over to Israel's internal intelligence service, Shabak, for interrogation. There, the men are routinely coerced to supply information about the resistance. Yediot Aharonot recently admitted that Palestinians were being blackmailed by the Shabak into working as informers.

Such units have been operating for a long time in the West Bank. They are called Duvdevan (Hebrew for cherry) and are responsible for most of the target killings of leaders of the Palestinian resistance. Israeli television has just aired a documentary on the training of such units. Experts in makeup, language training and undercover operations help train Duvdevan members. The latter are often disguised as vegetable merchants and told to drive around in Mercedes pickups, the same type of vehicle favoured by Palestinian merchants. The occupation army now has the Arabists as well as the Samson units working undercover in Palestinian territories.

As part of its clampdown on resistance movements, the Israeli army has reactivated the reconnaissance infantry unit dubbed Egoz (or shell nuts in Hebrew). The unit was created in 1993 to act as a spearhead in operations against Hizbollah in south Lebanon. Once an offshoot of the elite Golani Brigade, the unit was disbanded following Israel's withdrawal from south Lebanon in 2000. Now the unit has been reformed and told to patrol residential areas in various West Bank towns with orders to clash with resistance groups planning to fire at Israeli settlements or military targets. Egoz sets up road blocks on major streets in the West Bank in an attempt to arrest suspects and secure the roads leading to Israeli settlements.

The Israeli army has also formed a unit, dubbed Kharouf, which shoots at any Palestinian acting suspiciously on main roads. Another unit, called Duchifat, combs areas prior to military assaults in the West Bank. The Israeli army still maintains several elite death squads, such as Sayeret Metkal, which is affiliated to the staff command and was led in the 1970s by Ehud Barak, current prime minister. In 1990, Barak said in a Russian-language bulletin handed out to Russian emigrants that he used to feel "immense joy" at the sight of his victims's heads being blown up. Former premiere Binyamin Netanyahu also served in the same unit, so did former Chief of Staff Moshe Yaalon.

The Israeli army has turned Palestinian territories into a shooting range for the special units of the navy and the air force corps, a place where they hone their skills of target killing. And yet the West Bank and Gaza are far from their usual turf. Take for example Force 13 of the Israeli navy commandos. This unit is supposed to operate only at sea, but it has participated in dozens of assassinations and abductions in the West Bank and Gaza. One of the best-known operations conducted by Force 13 was the killing of Dr Thabet Thabet, Fatah Tulkarm representative in mid 2002. Force 13 was formed and for a while led by Ami Ayalon, the former navy commander who challenged Barak recently for the leadership of the Labour Party. In his election campaign, Ayhalon boasted of having personally "killed more Arabs" than all the Jews killed by Hamas.

Shamuel Romeh, who was one of the leaders of Shabak, said that the elite units specialised in target killings work closely with the Shabak, which collects data about the targets from Palestinian informers. General Gadi Eisencott, commander of the northern zone and former commander of the Israeli army in the West Bank, said that the use of elite units in target killings carries a "deterrence" message to the Palestinian resistance movement, one that is far more effective than shelling by planes. "When a Palestinian terrorist knows that soldiers of the special units can fire at his head point blank while he is standing in the alley outside his home, this is a message to the rest of terrorists that our long army can reach any of them," he told the newspaper Haaretz.

Although service in the Israeli army is mandatory, service in the death squads is voluntary. According to Israeli television Channel 2, most those who volunteer for service in the elite units are followers of the religious Zionist current, who combine military and religious zeal with racism toward the Palestinians and Arabs.

Israel's official institutions offer young people incentives to get them into the elite units. Military expert Rami Edelis says that one of the major considerations for promotion in the army is service in these units. When members of such units go back to civilian life, they are given priority in employment as well as scholarships.

Suspects in killing of 10-year-old Palestinian girl not to be tried

Of course the suspects will not be tried - she was Palestinian. I mean, it's not like she was Jewish.

At first, says her father, "they said she had been wounded by a stone. I didn't believe that they would sink to such a despicable level." (Miki Kratsman)

By Avi Issacharoff and Jonathan Lis, Haaretz Correspondents - August 1, 2007

The Jerusalem District Prosecutor's Office decided Tuesday not to indict Border Police officers suspected of being responsible for the January death of 10-year-old Abir Aramin from the West Bank village of Anata near Jerusalem.

The civil rights group "Yesh Din", which specializes in representing Palestinians whose rights have been violated by Israel's defense establishment or by Jewish settlers, announced that it will appeal the decision.

Aramin was seriously wounded in the head when she stepped out of school with her sister during recess and found herself in the midst of a confrontation between border police and young protestors.

Pathologists who conducted the autopsy on the girl's body found it difficult to determine what the cause of the girl's death had actually been. While the doctors dismissed the possibility that she was hit with a rubber bullet, they did not dismiss the possibility that she was killed by a stun grenade or rock.

Since the pathologists could not determine the cause of death, the Jerusalem prosecutors decided to close the investigation due to lack of evidence.

The investigation was conducted by the Judea and Samaria police department and not by the internal affairs division of the police department as the incident took place in the West Bank.

At the time of Aramin's death, military police would enter the village often and - according to village residents - instigate conflicts with the local residents.

Despite the death of his daughter, Basam Aramin, an activist with the non-profit organization "Combatants for Peace" decided to cooperate with the police.

In a deal struck two months after Aramin's death, it was agreed that Border Police would no longer enter the village without coordinating it first with the local residents - unless an internal emergency demanded police intervention.

Local parents and political figures agreed that if a violent confrontation with police should erupt, they would act to restore order immediately.

"Israelis are paranoid that we want to throw them into the sea with the fish but I think we need to stop focusing on the past and turn over a new leaf in our relationship," Aramin told Haaretz when the agreement was reached.

"The past is very painful for both sides. I have paid a heavy personal price - I lost my childhood in an Israeli prison and now I have lost my daughter. But from a personal and national standpoint, we mustn't remain in the past."

Also see:

Twilight Zone / 'I've lost my heart'

Girl allegedly killed by Border Police may have been hit by rock

Lest We Forget - Maryland prosecutors call it 'insult to justice'

Betcha forgot about this sicko murderer didn't you? The last time I saw this creep, he was walking around in civilian clothes, no handcuffs, drinking a coca-cola in an Israeli social club style prison for Jews. And, they have the nerve to be pissed-off with O.J. At least O.J. didn't escape to a foreign county. If you're not familiar with the case, read on...

August 24, 1999

ROCKVILLE, Maryland (CNN) -- In a surprising outcome to a case that stretched from Maryland to the Middle East, Samuel Sheinbein -- the U.S. teen-ager who fled to Israel after a gruesome killing two years ago -- has agreed to plead guilty to first-degree murder, Maryland authorities announced Tuesday.

The plea agreement reached in the Israeli judicial system will allow Sheinbein weekend furloughs in four years and parole in 14 years, said displeased Maryland prosecutors.

"It is our view that it is an insult to justice that Mr. Sheinbein will be free to walk the streets of Israel under the most likely scenario when he is 33 years of age," said Douglas Gansler, the Montgomery County, Maryland, state's attorney, when he announced the plea bargain on Tuesday.

Sheinbein, 19, will plead guilty to first-degree murder in a Tel Aviv court on September 2. He has agreed to a sentence of 24 years to be served in an Israeli prison.

He will be eligible for parole after two-thirds of the sentence has been served. Sheinbein has already spent two years behind bars awaiting trial. With that time taken into consideration, he would be eligible for parole in 14 years if the plea agreement is approved by an Israeli judge.

In four years, after serving one-quarter of his sentence, Sheinbein will be eligible for weekend furloughs under the Israeli court system.

Sister: Sheinbein always seemed disturbed

The suspect's older sister, Nathalie Sheinbein, voiced relief at her brother's sentence. She acknowledged that it probably sounded lenient to those used to the U.S. justice system.

"But he will serve his time. He's not going to be out walking free," Nathalie Sheinbein told CNN.

"Hopefully he will get some of the help that he needs while he's in there," she said.

Her brother always seemed disturbed, exhibiting signs of obsessive-compulsive behavior and anorexia, she said.

"Not your typical, normal young boy things -- that are all signs of bigger things to come," she said. The family is now hearing about more serious signs from his friends, "signs of schizophrenic behavior at school," she said.

Israel official: Offender has rights, too

A member of Sheinbein's defense team in Israel told CNN they were angry that Montgomery County officials revealed the plea before it went to court.

Gansler announced the plea bargain on Tuesday

Maryland authorities complained that they were not consulted about the plea bargain and were faxed a notice of it only Monday night.

Sheinbein had been the subject of a 17-month extradition battle between the United States and Israeli authorities.

Gansler quoted the murder victim's family as saying: "Justice has not been served."

"The Sheinbeins manipulated the justice system in the U.S. and in Israel," the family said, according to Gansler. "There was not closure, because he will serve a lighter sentence in Israel than in the U.S."

Gansler said he "was glad to have certainty" because Sheinbein "could have been acquitted in Israel."

A senior official in Israel's justice ministry tells CNN that the plea agreement is a "very good deal" for the prosecution, because the presumption in Israel is that juveniles serve 16-18 years for murder, not the 24 years to which Sheinbein will be sentenced.

In addition, the official said, weekend furloughs depend on the behavior of the person in prison and are up to the Israeli prison authority. The official said, "This is our system. We believe a person who made offense has rights, too."

Gansler called Israeli prisons "much more country club-ish than U.S. prisons."

Prosecutor: Motive was a 'practice murder '

Sheinbein, of Aspen Hill, Maryland, fled to Israel in 1997, soon after the dismembered body of his friend Alfredo Tello was found.

The Maryland prosecution claims that Sheinbein and an accomplice, Aaron Needle, picked Tello up from work in Silver Spring, Maryland, on September 17, 1997, and decided to kill him.

They allegedly strangled him with a rope, struck him on the head with a blunt object and slashed him. Prosecutors said there was "extended torture."

Two days later, the prosecution said, the two suspects dismembered the victim, burned his body and dumped his remains in a vacant house.

"This was actually what has been called a 'thrill kill' -- they killed Alfredo Tello for the mere pleasure of it," Gansler said.

"They actually had planned on killing another acquaintance of Mr. Sheinbein and Mr. Needle down the road, and this was basically a practice murder," the prosecutor said.

Maryland authorities believe Tello was selected because he had in some way "disrespected" Needle's girlfriend.

'Recipe' to commit murder

Israel's Supreme Court ruled in February that Sheinbein, who was born and raised in the United States, was an Israeli citizen -- because Sheinbein's father, Sol, holds an Israeli passport -- and could not be extradited.

Trial proceedings on the murder change began in May; soon after the Israeli defense team was granted more time to gather evidence from Maryland authorities.

Samuel Sheinbein had admitted to the dismemberment and burning of the victim. But he claimed Needle was the killer. Needle hanged himself shortly before his own trial was to begin in Maryland.

Israeli prosecutors were set to begin presenting evidence in the courtroom in September. Gansler said it was the evidence that prompted Sheinbein finally to admit he committed the killing and seek a plea agreement.

"We had a mountain of evidence, all of which would have been compelling," Gansler said. That included DNA, eyewitness accounts, and a "recipe" to commit murder written by Sheinbein, the prosecutor added.

No double jeopardy

Once Sheinbein is freed from an Israeli prison, he could still be arrested and charged with first-degree murder if he tried to enter the United States or any country that belongs to the Interpol international police organization, Gansler said.

"There's no double jeopardy," he said.

Sheinbein's father, who is living in Israel, faces obstruction of justice and hindering investigation charges in Montgomery County, Gansler said.

Israeli Soldiers “Execute” what they Learn in Military School

by Sami Awad - July 31, 2007

Today I joined thousands of Palestinians in the burial of a nineteen year old Palestinian boy who was beaten to death by Israeli soldiers; his name was (and is) Jihad Al-Sha’er. In order to not have his story become a number in the books of records, I decided to write it in this article.

Jihad’s story should be a warning to all those who are losing their humanity to the corruption of absolute power.

To give a clear picture of what happened, I talked to several villagers from the village of Tiqua’ where Jihad was from including some who eye witnessed the incident and some very close friends that I respect and trust.

In the morning of July 26th Jihad left his home and headed up the street to a nearby taxi stop. He was going to Bethlehem University to complete his enrolment for the upcoming fall semester; on the other side of the taxi stop stood an Israeli army Hummer. A soldier standing outside the army vehicle called Jihad for no reason at all other than what seems to have been out of boredom from standing in the hot summer heat. Jihad hesitantly walked to the soldier who asked him for his identification card. Jihad only had his birth certificate as part of the paperwork he was taking with him for registration. Even though that is enough, the Israeli soldier, again from what seems to be born of boredom began to taunt and then physically assault Jihad. As the assaults grew, Jihad physically defended himself and a brawl broke up between the two who could have easily been the same age. Seeing this, four other Israeli soldiers from the same army vehicle jumped out and began beating Jihad with their batons and the buds of their rifles. Even after falling to the ground the beatings continued.Tens of Israeli army jeeps came as reinforcement, for what? I truly don’t know. Jihad was carried in one of the army vehicles to an unknown location.

It is not known what happened after that but after several hours the Israeli army called the Palestinian Red Crescent to “pick up” Jihad at one of army checkpoints leading into Bethlehem. The ambulance picked up the body of a dead nineteen year old.

A surplus of absolute power was given to these Israeli soldiers by their commanders and government that led them (directly or not) to treat others as a lesser form of a human being. This is not the first time and I am sad to say will probably not be the last time such things happen.

As I thought about it more I asked myself what if in that evening, as the soldiers were sitting in their base, one of them stood up expressed remorse and regret for what had happened then how will the others react? How will his commanders react?

If (big IF) there is enough pressure to open an investigation, the Israeli army and government will claim this as a “singular and tragic incident that does not reflect the Israeli military,” but the facts present a different reality. What happened might be a “unique / rare incident” (every act of violence and brutal killing is unique) but in reality, what is happening is a clear reflection of the systemic demonizing that is embedded in the Israeli military and poltical establishment.

Source: Never Give Up