E/CN.4/1995/34 page 79 Israel Information transmitted to the Government 413. By letter dated 29 June 1994 the Special Rapporteur advised the Government that he had continued to receive information indicating that persons detained for political reasons in the occupied territories were routinely subjected to various forms of torture and inhuman and degrading treatment. Such mistreatment was allegedly inflicted by officials in the Israeli Defence Force, the General Security Service (GSS or Shin Bet) or the police during the course of interrogation. It was reported that certain forms of mistreatment might be sanctioned by GSS interrogation guidelines. The methods of abuse were reported to include: hooding of the victim for prolonged periods with dirty and wet sacks, resulting in disorientation and impeded respiration; tying the victim’s body into painful positions for prolonged periods, such as with hands bound to feet and the body bent backwards (the "banana"); forcing the victim to remain standing for prolonged periods; sleep deprivation; severe beatings, including blows to the head and smashing the head against a wall; withholding of necessary medical attention; and confinement in small cold cells. 414. Incommunicado detention was also reported to be routine for those arrested in the occupied territories. The military law applied to the West Bank was said to authorize the warrantless arrest and detention for four days of any person suspected of committing a security offence, after which two seven-day extensions could be granted by police officers before the detainees need be brought before a judge. A 1992 amendment to the law reportedly made eight days the maximum allowable period for detention without judicial review for detainees under 16 years and for all detainees who are suspected of "any but the most serious offences". Persons aged 16 and above who were detained for political reasons and accused of serious offences were said generally to be held for 18 days without access to a judge and for even longer periods without access to relatives. Detainees could be denied access to lawyers for up to 90 days on security grounds, 30 days of which could be ordered by interrogating officials and two additional 30-day periods by a military court judge. 415. Confessions and other information obtained from a detainee during prolonged incommunicado detention was said often to constitute the main evidence against him or her in the military courts. Under applicable law, detainees may retract such a confession in court and ask for an investigation into torture allegations, although in practice prosecutors and judges were said frequently to pressure defendants to accept a plea-bargain rather than to press for an investigation. 416. The individual cases described in the following paragraphs were transmitted to the Government. 417. Bassem Mohammed Abdul-Rahman Altamini, from Al Nabi, Ramallah district on the West Bank, was arrested on 9 November 1993 by a team of officials from the army, the Shabak (General Security Service - GSF) and an undercover unit. He was allegedly beaten, hooded, hit on the head with an object and his head was struck against a wall. On 18 November he was transferred from Hadassah