But Soldiers Get Benefit of Doubt, Legal Officer Concedes : Israeli Brutality Claims Discounted

TEL AVIV — The man responsible for Israel’s system of military justice concedes that he may give soldiers the benefit of the doubt in some cases of alleged misconduct, but he rejects charges that the high command is turning a blind eye to charges of widespread army brutality against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.

In an interview, Military Advocate General Amnon Straschnow responded to questions about criticism that the army is ignoring a deterioration in norms of behavior among troops coping with the eight-month-old Arab uprising in the occupied territories.

In a typical criticism last month, the military correspondent for the newspaper Haaretz, Reuven Pedatzur, wrote: “Attempts to belittle what are still termed ‘irregularities’ are dangerous. The top echelon’s thunderous silence is tantamount to a sort of go-ahead to soldiers to cast off restraint and turn ‘irregularities’ into the norm.”

Steering a Middle Course

But during an hourlong review of what has certainly been the busiest period of his tenure, Straschnow, a brigadier general, said his job is to steer a course between what he called “the hammer of security needs and the anvil of civil liberties.”

His primary concern, the 41-year-old career officer said, must be “the needs of the army and security. But on the other hand, human rights shouldn’t be totally ignored, even in difficult times.”

A measure of just how difficult the times are comes from army figures showing that troops have been involved in nearly 14,000 incidents on the West Bank and Gaza Strip since the uprising began Dec. 9. That’s an average of nearly 60 “disturbances of order” per day--four or five times the number during most recent full years.

Straschnow’s office deals with offenders on both sides of the conflict. More than 4,500 Arab defendants have been brought before military courts on the West Bank and Gaza Strip since Dec. 9, the officer said. That contrasts with what had been the norm of 1,200 to 1,500 cases a year. The conviction rate is 96%, he said. Sentences range from a few weeks to several years in prison.

2,600 Others Held

More than 2,600 other Palestinians are being held for up to six months without formal charges or trial under renewable administrative detention orders.

Straschnow said he did not know how many more West Bank and Gaza Strip Arabs have been held under regulations allowing soldiers to arrest anyone suspected of a “security offense” for up to 18 days without a warrant. However, Al Haq, a West Bank human rights organization affiliated with the International Commission of Jurists, says that altogether more than 17,000 Palestinians have been taken into detention since the uprising began.

For all of the criticism of Israel’s treatment of its Palestinian prisoners, however, Straschnow spends much more time answering questions about the use of excessive force by Israeli troops and what are seen by many as the relatively light punishments handed down to the few soldiers prosecuted.

Straschnow said that given the level of violence in the territories and the “massive provocations” against soldiers, there are bound to be discipline problems.

A total of 400 cases of alleged misconduct have been investigated by the military police, the army advocate said. About half of those have so far reached his desk, and he said he has closed the files without charges in 60% to 70% of the cases.

Straschnow can order courts-martial for especially serious offenses, and he has done so in about 20 cases since the uprising began. “A few tens” of other cases have been handled at lower-level disciplinary trials before unit commanders.

The army confirms that 185 Palestinians have died from army gunfire since December, and there have been at least a handful of cases in which officers were disciplined for failing to follow standing orders about opening fire. (At least another 40 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli civilians or have died under still-disputed circumstances related to the unrest.)

So far, however, only one soldier has been found guilty of manslaughter. He was sentenced to one year in prison and three years suspended.

Straschnow said that five other cases of alleged manslaughter await his action.

In his job, Straschnow said, “you can’t make any popular decisions.” He takes comfort from the fact that he gets criticized from both sides--those who say he is overly protective of the troops and others who see him as overly concerned about the Palestinians.