An Israeli security guard for a fuel truck was seriously injured Sunday in a shooting attack on a vehicle west of the West Bank city of Ramallah. The truck came under fire from a Palestinian in a passing car near the village of Naalin, security and medical officials told Haaretz newspaper.
The Israeli, in his 20s, was evacuated with serious head and leg wounds. The driver of the truck was not wounded, Israel Radio reported.
Meanwhile, a new report published Sunday said Israel's Shin Bet security service uses torture in its interrogation of Palestinian prisoners. According to two Israeli human rights groups, the physical abuse includes "beating, painful binding, back bending, body stretching and prolonged sleep deprivation." The report charged that these methods constitute torture under international law.
Prisoners are shackled to chairs in painful positions for protracted periods of time and subjected to humiliation, swearing and threats by the interrogators, the report said. "Their purpose is to break the interrogees' spirit and as such, they contradict the Supreme Court ruling and constitute prohibited ill-treatment under international law," the report said.
Routinely the prisoners are held in appalling conditions, which include isolation and sensory deprivation. No criminal investigations have been opened against the Shin Bet even though 500 complaints have been filed since 2001, the groups said.
