Quarter of Israeli troops in West Bank witness to abuse: report

0 Comments | AFP, December, 2007

JERUSALEM (AFP) — One in four Israeli troops serving at the hundreds of checkpoints across the occupied West Bank has engaged in or witnessed abuse of Palestinians, an army-commissioned survey said on Sunday.

Twenty-five percent of respondents said they had either taken part in, seen or heard about from colleagues about acts that included either physical or verbal abuse at the more than 500 roadblocks dotting the territory, said the report quoted by army officials and media.

The abuse includes humilitations, gratuitous delays and bribe-taking. One soldier reported forcing a Palestinian truck driver to remain on his knees for four hours for lying that he had a permit to cross the roadblock.

"We knew there was a problem, but we never imagined it was this...