Torture Allegations: Inmates Forced To Write Bar Mitzva Gift Thank-Yous

Prisoners are assigned constructive or rehabilitative work as a matter of course in most societies,” explained the Deputy Warden of Megiddo Prison.

Tel Aviv, October 18 – Human Rights Groups have raised concerns that Israel perpetrates unlawful psychological abuse against prisoners by having them compose thank-you notes for gifts received by children for their bar- and bat-mitzva celebrations, a spokesman for one such organization noted today.

Amnesty International representative Rami Dushbag told reporters today that the group had received numerous credible reports of inmates at several incarceration facilities in Israel who have been given a list of gifts, their givers, other pertinent details, and instructions to personalize an expression of gratitude and affix a signature. If true, claimed Dushbag, the actions represent a form of psychological torture illegal under both Israeli and international law.

“These are serious charges,” acknowledged Dushbag. “But both we and other groups such as Human Rights Watch and the Committee Against Torture have been monitoring the situation for some time, and have become convinced that these heinous policies are in place at numerous prisons throughout the country.”

“Such acts disproportionately affect Palestinian inmates,” he continued. “This is especially galling, as in Palestinian society, expressing appreciation and gratitude in such a formal manner is often experienced as a mark of shame, deeply dishonoring the person forced to recognize that he could not otherwise enjoy the enhanced life or lifestyle the gift affords, and is therefore exposed as inadequate. The emotional and psychological impact of writing thank-you notes can thus be all the more traumatic and degrading for a Palestinian. Having to do so when he, personally, does not even gain benefit from the gift given to some random preteen compounds the unbearable shame.”

Representatives of Prison Services, a division of the police, denied any violation of rights was taking place. “Prisoners are assigned constructive or rehabilitative work as a matter of course in most societies,” explained Deputy Warden of Megiddo Prison, Hodaya Kattav. “It is hardly atypical to have them perform tasks on behalf of others, such as manufacturing license plates, working on infrastructure projects, or whatever. The twelve- and thirteen-year-old sector of Israeli society benefits from these activities of the inmates, as do parents of the maturing children, who now no longer need to experience unwanted tension over the social obligation of thank-yous and the tediousness of writing essentially the same thing a hundred times, but never being allowed to write it exactly the same way twice. The inmates themselves gain by participating in rehabilitative program to reaccustom them to living in a functioning society with actual manners and rules.”

“In any case, these organizations better not get any court injunctions against this practice for another couple of months,” she added. “My daughter’s turning twelve next week.”

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