Palestinians Tortured, Rights Groups Say

Israel regularly tortures Palestinian detainees despite a 1999 Supreme Court ban on the practice, three local and international human rights groups said in a report.

The document by the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, the Palestinian rights group LAW and the Swiss-based World Organization Against Torture cited affidavits from detainees, including a 16-year-old who said he was soaked in freezing water, made to carry a heavy wooden beam while manacled and then beaten.

Israel said the ban on torture is still in effect and that alleged violations are being investigated.

An Israeli government report on the issue and the response by the human rights groups will be submitted to the U.N. Committee Against Torture at an 11-day meeting in Geneva, to begin today.