Israel rights groups: Dozens of Palestinian detainees abused

JERUSALEM: A report by two Israeli rights groups released Wednesday says dozens of Palestinian detainees at an Israeli detention facility are subjected to mistreatment, which in some cases amounts to torture. The report by B’Tselem and HaMoked presents accounts by 116 Palestinian detainees on conditions at the Shikma interrogation facility, run by the Israeli Shin Bet internal security agency. The report says the detainees are incarcerated small, rank cells, often in isolation. Palestinian detainees told the Israeli rights groups that they were at times exposed to extreme heat or cold, bound to a chair and denied access to a shower for days or weeks. The detainees are shouted at and spit on, are deprived of sleep and are provided little, substandard food, the report says.   AP