Report: IDF doctor says Dirani was raped

A Tel Aviv court canceled a lawsuit filed by Dirani for having allegedly been tortured.

By ARIEH O'SULLIVAN
dirani (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
dirani
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
An IDF doctor who had examined former Amal security chief Mustafa Dirani found physical evidence that supported his claim he had been raped while in an Israeli prison, Channel 1 reported Wednesday. The report identified a document that identified the doctor as Lt.-Col. Chen Kugel. According to the document, Kugel wrote: "On the basis of my examination of Mr. Dirani... the results can substantiate the essence of the complaint" that he was raped. The revelation came a day after a Tel Aviv District Court rejected the state's request to cancel a lawsuit filed by Dirani for having allegedly been tortured while in jail. Dirani filed a NIS 6 million suit in 2000 charging that interrogators had raped him, sodomized him, kept him naked for weeks and humiliated him to extract information about IAF navigator Lt.-Col. Ron Arad, who ejected from his F-4 fighter jet over southern Lebanon in May 1986. Dirani was freed to Lebanon as part of a prisoner swap in January 2004, but his Israeli lawyer has continued with the case. Dirani's lawyer Zvi Rish told The Jerusalem Post that he has known of the document for years. "I have that document and much more evidence including testimony of officers that prove, to my regret, that Dirani's claims are true." Rish questioned the timing of the Channel 1 report, saying the existence of the doctor's findings had been published four years ago. Rish has not had the opportunity to present the evidence in court, since the state has been trying to have the case dismissed. The state plans to appeal the Tel Aviv District Court's decision, Rish said. Israel denies Dirani was abused and said he made up the allegations of abuse to justify giving Israel information. In his own testimony, Dirani described how one captor named George brought a uniformed soldier nicknamed Kojak into the room. The soldier dropped his pants and George told Dirani the soldier would sodomize him if he didn't talk. He said later he was shackled, pushed down on a bench and the soldier raped him. In his ruling Tuesday, Judge Amiram Binyamini said Dirani would not receive the money even if a court upholds his claim, because he is a resident of an enemy state. Rish said if the money was awarded charities would be found to receive it.