PA tortured dozens of suspected Israel collaborators, court finds

The Palestinian Authority is responsible for the torture, imprisonment and murders of dozens of Palestinians suspected of collaborating with Israel, the Jerusalem District Court ruled this week.

The precedent-setting, 2,000-page ruling handed down on Monday marks a victory for Palestinians who fled the PA-controlled areas and resettled in Israel.

Five lawsuits involving dozens of plaintiffs were filed against the Palestinian Authority over its crackdown on suspected collaborators, the oldest dating from 14 years ago. Ultimately, the court combined the lawsuits into a single case.

All the plaintiffs said they had been locked up in basements of PA-run detention centers, where interrogators tortured them. Their testimonies told similar, graphic stories of physical and sexual assaults. They also reported executions.

The Palestinian Authority dismissed the allegations, and while it ultimately conceded that some arrests were made, it insisted that the detainees were afforded due process, supervised by the Palestinian judiciary.

Deputy Jerusalem District Court President Moshe Drori ruled that the Palestinian Authority's claims were false.

"There is no other way to say this: There is a preponderance of evidence showing the Palestinian Authority, through its various organs and apparatuses, employed violence and torture against the plaintiffs," he wrote. "Most of the plaintiffs described torture using the Shabah technique, which involves the suspension of the detainee [in the air]. They were also exposed to extremely high or low temperatures, dehydration or the drinking of water from a toilet, physical assault and forcibly sitting on a broken bottle. The PA officials also gave doctors orders to worsen the detainees' medical conditions and one of the plaintiffs had urine injected into his veins."

Attorneys Barak Kedem and Aryeh Arbus of the Rom-Arbus-Kedem-Tzur law firm welcomed the court's ruling.

"The court made justice when it said the PA was accountable for the kidnapping, imprisonment and torture of 52 Palestinians who were suspected of collaborating with Israel," Kedem said. "Israel has a moral obligation to help those who were tortured and murdered for helping us prevent terror from PA areas. The court, in this important decision, took the first step toward fulfilling this most important obligation."

The court is scheduled to rule on the question of damages in the next few weeks. Each plaintiff is expected to be awarded millions of shekels.