Last update - 00:00 11/02/2007
IDF to investigate cuffing procedures at military jails, courts
By Nir Hasson, Haaretz Correspondent
The Military Advocate General and the Military Police chief have instructed to open an investigation against military prison escorts suspected of unnecessarily cuffing soldiers in their care.
The investigation was triggered by a complaint filed by Military advocate, lawyer Shlomo Tsipori.
According to Tsipori, prisoner escorts cuff the hands and legs of all soldiers transported to court, regardless of military law which stipulates only prisoners who might try to escape may be cuffed.
Soldiers stay cuffed throughout court proceedings, including during visits by their family members and lawyers.
"It is most acute when people come to Israel to settle their status with the army. They turn themselves in from their own will; it is clearly obvious they do not intend to escape, and still their hands and feet and cuffed," Tsipori said.
In a letter to the Military Advocate General, Tsipori wrote "cuffing a soldier is humiliating?When it is done in court, in the presence of the soldier's family and civilians, the insult is even greater."
The IDF confirmed it has started an investigation into Tsipori's complaint.