V Israel’s Justice Ministry is investigating how the leader of a Palestinian cell accused of a West Bank bomb attack came to be hospitalised in a critical condition after he was questioned.
Interrogators from the Shin Bet intelligence service had been granted unusual permission to use “special measures” with Samer Arbid, the key suspect in the attack in August that killed 17-year-old Rina Shnerb.
But rules dictate these should not have resulted in a nearly fatal outcome.
Israel’s High Court has ruled a number of times against the use of physical pressure and torture in Shin Bet interrogations but it has exempted cases where there is a “ticking bomb” situation.
In the case of Mr Arbid, 44, a veteran activist in the Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Shin Bet had information regarding more explosive devices, ready to be used, that were similar to the kind that had killed Rina Shnerb and wounded her father and brother at the Ein Buvin spring in the West Bank, near the Jewish settlement of Dolev.
Three other members of the cell were detained as suspects but Mr Arbid, who was originally arrested two weeks ago, had been released due to lack of evidence. He was arrested again last Wednesday. The Shin Bet declared the next day that it had captured the cell responsible for the attack against the Shnerb family.
Soon afterwards, Palestinian sources reported that Samer Arbid had been taken to Hadassa Hospital on Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, suffering from broken ribs and kidney failure. His condition was described as critical .
The PFLP cell, which is based in Ramallah, has been involved in a number of shooting attacks and, according to the Shin Bet, was planning to carry out more bombing attacks. August’s incident was the most advanced and sophisticated terror attack in the West Bank in recent years. Such operations by the PFLP are relatively rare.
Israeli security sources say there are only around half a dozen interrogations every year in which “special measures” are authorised to interrogate suspects. The High Court forbids torture in such “ticking bomb” cases, but permits the use of physical pressure that would normally be illegal.
A senior attorney at the Justice Ministry oversees all such cases. An insider said the suspect’s condition in this case points to excessive use by the interrogators and a unit in the ministry that deals with complaints from prison inmates had begun to investigate.
The initial Shin Bet announcement of Mr Arbid’s arrest listed details of terrorist activity past and present, saying he had “prepared the explosive device and operated it the moment he saw the Shnerb family arrive.”
A later statement was much less detailed, saying Mr Arbid “had reported he was feeling unwell and, according to the guidelines, was transferred for tests and treatment in hospital.”