Torture victims require specialized legal assistance and proper documentation of their stories; and yet, the nature of torture – and its effect on the victims – may make this job harder than usual. The handbook is written for lawyers and human rights workers of differing backgrounds and experiences, who want … Read More

Briefing to the Committee Against Torture For the Committee’s Review of the Fifth Periodic Report on Israel. Jerusalem, March 2016. This alternative report falls into five parts:
1. Criminalization of torture in national law and the obligation to prevent torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
2. Safeguards
3. Investigation of … Read More

Comparative Study on the Legal Framework of Torture in Turkey and Israel:This executive summary results from a long-running project. Its aim is to present a comparative analysis of the practice of torture and other forms of ill treatment in two countries: Turkey and Israel. Analysis of both the similarities and … Read More

Infograchic produced by PCATI, showing torture incidents of Israel according to methods in 2014. The second part of the infographics shows PCATI’s activity in 2014

Download the study: Incidents of Torture

Factsheet reviewing the state of torture by the defence forces in Israel – June 2015. The factsheet was Developed in collaboration with the The Treatment and Rehabilitation Center for Victims of Torture (TRC)

Download the study: Torture in Israel

In 2013 the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) conducted a research focusing on Palestinian
women in Hebron whose family members were arrested or detained. The research, directed by Dr.
Tamar Lavi, examined both the direct exposure of these women to violence and ill-treatment and their
mental adjustment after the arrest. The … Read More

The current report of the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel presents the testimonies of nine victims of torture in Israel, all Palestinian detainees who are residents of the Occupied Territories. The testimonies are presented in their simple language, in first person, almost in their entirety with the exception of … Read More

“These cases, in which Palestinian detainees are beaten by soldiers and police officers, happen occasionally. To my great regret, they occur once in a while, and often there is no complaint and they are shrouded in silence in one way or another. Sometimes we learn about them years after the … Read More

In April 2009 the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel and the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) delivered an alternative report on the use of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment to the UN Committee Against Torture. The report was an important source of information for the Committee as … Read More

“My hands were shackled behind my back with plastic handcuffs. The handcuffs were tight and they hurt… I spent hours with these handcuffs on and suffered greatly because of the harsh shackling. After about half an hour I couldn’t feel my hands anymore. It was as if the palms of … Read More

“They told me that if I confessed to everything they wanted, they’d release my wife, that she was being held in a cell because of me,” “the interrogator told me that my father had been arrested (later I discovered he had lied), and threatened to arrest my grandmother if I … Read More

At 11:30 AM on 27 December 2008, without any specific warning regarding timing or targets, the Israel Defense Forces launched a massive bombing attack on the Gaza Strip. Thus begun an operation which earned the military nickname “Cast Lead.” Its declared goal was to destroy the weaponry and infrastructure of … Read More

This report deals with one of the layers of impunity which defend ISA personnel from the authority of the law: the approach of the State Attorney’s Office and the Attorney General. This layer functions to ensure that complaints of the torture and ill-treatment taking place in interrogation rooms do not … Read More

“I started to yell that I want to see my mother. Then one of the soldiers took off his helmet and hit me on the head with it. I lost consciousness. I woke up later… One of the soldiers took out his sex organ and began to urinate on me.” … Read More

Both Israeli and international jurisprudence recognize a detainee’s right to meet and consult an attorney of his or her choice as a fundamental right deriving from every individual’s basic right to freedom and due process of law. In Israel this right is protected under the “Basic Law: Human Dignity and … Read More

When we think of physicians, the Hippocratic Oath and its mythic status often come to mind. We believe that doctors help the sick, standing beside them day or night in times of trouble and remaining loyal to those entrusted to their care.

It turns out that at times, when a patient … Read More

In December 2009 we published “Accountability Denied” which described in detail how the Attorney General systematically rejected hundreds of complaints of torture and ill-treatment filed between 2001 and 2009. The report was fundamental to PCATI’s legal and public operations, which today target the various institutional mechanisms which absolve the ISA … Read More

In March 2008 the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel released “Family Matters: The Use of Family Members in Interrogation.” It described a common practice in ISA interrogations: applying pressure upon an interrogee by using their family members to cause them grave distress and psychological suffering and extract a confession … Read More

Prof. Agnes Heller (2005) has written: “There are many different characterizations and quasi-definitions of the decent person, but all of them indicate the same essence: responsibility.” This means that individuals assume responsibility for their own actions, those taken by other members of society, and by society as a whole. Yet … Read More

“I was in the middle of my period and reached an unbearable mental state – I ran out of pads and was ashamed to ask the prison guard for more. I didn’t know what language to speak to her in or how. I was also ashamed because I was uncomfortable … Read More

This publication details the highlights of a symposium organized by PCATI and the Israeli Medical Association in February 2014. The symposium explained the Istanbul Protocol, an international guide instructing interested medical professionals, mental health professionals and attorneys in examining a case to determine whether an individual has been subjected to … Read More

In Israel and the Palestinian Territories already occupied for 48 years, the “rule of law” attempts to incorporate right and wrong in two very different legal situations under one regime. During those 48 years, legal responsibility for the safety and well-being of the Palestinian residing in the Occupied Territories has … Read More