If you can’t beat ’em,
beat ’em

With all that nasty criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s incompetence and brutality, it’s about time somebody turned the spotlight in another direction. Luckily a new report published jointly by human rights groups B’Tselem and the Center for the Defense of the Individual shows that Shin Bet, the Israeli security service, can be every bit as contemptuous of international law as their military confreres. Based on affidavits from 73 Palestinians held captive between July of 2005 and January 2006, the report chronicles the regular use of torture by the Shin Bet.

From sleep deprivation and prolonged isolation to regular beatings and binding captives in positions human bodies don’t readily bend in, the report reads like an interrogator’s what-not-to-do list from international charters and laws—including those of Israel’s own Supreme Court. Though limited to information in the affidavits, the report’s author, Yehezkel Lein, says it’s clear these “represent a valid indication of the frequency of the phenomena.”

Israel’s Justice Ministry dismissed the report as “fraught with mistakes, groundless claims and inaccuracies.” Of 500 complaints of torture filed against Shin Bet since 2001, not one criminal investigation has been opened.

by SCOTT SAXON