Israeli Officer Faces Brutality Charges Trial

The Supreme Court ruled Sunday that an Israeli colonel must be put on trial for allegedly ordering soldiers to break the bones of Palestinian prisoners.

Reserve Col. Yehuda Meir, former commander of the Nablus area in the occupied West Bank, would be the highest-ranking officer to face trial for suspected brutality since a Palestinian revolt erupted two years ago.

Israel has faced world condemnation for an iron-fist policy of “might, force and beatings” to quash the uprising. Civil rights activists complain of inequities in the punishments given brutal soldiers compared with Arabs who throw stones.

The court set a precedent by overturning the decision of military prosecutors not to press charges. It upheld a challenge brought by an Israeli civil rights group and residents of the village of Hawwara.

The prisoners came from Hawwara and nearby Beita. The court was told that 20 Palestinians were taken to a field with their hands bound and mouths sealed and beaten with clubs until some of their bones were broken.

If convicted, Meir could face up to 20 years in jail.

After a disciplinary hearing, Meir was reprimanded and suspended without pay for the incident in January, 1988, shortly after the uprising erupted against Israeli rule in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The court rejected arguments by the military prosecutor that Meir had already been punished enough and that the incident took place at a time early in the uprising when army orders on the use of force were unclear.