Carmi Gillon - Ambassador To Denmark

Ambassador To Denmark

Between 2001 and 2003, he served as the Israeli ambassador to Denmark. When he was nominated for the position in 2001, Human Rights Watch called for the Danish government to reject his appointment and for Israel to withdraw his nomination, while Amnesty International asked the Danes to detain him under the UN Convention against Torture. Danish Justice Minister Frank Jensen initially said that Gillon could be could be arrested and prosecuted under the terms of the Convention after he admitted using "moderate physical pressure" on Palestinian detainees, but later backed down, acknowledging that Gillon was protected by diplomatic immunity. Amnesty International urged Denmark to investigate him for torture and if there was enough evidence for a prosecution, to detain him and either try him or extradite him to a state that was willing to try him for torture. Although Denmark itself had criticized Israel over claims of torture, it acknowledged Gillon's diplomatic immunity and refused.

Gillon defended the use of torture as a means of "self-defense against terrorism." He told Danish media that Israel might have to re-introduce "moderate physical pressure" when interrogating suspected Palestinian terrorists. "We banned this form of interrogation in Israel in 1999 because of the peace process. Unfortunately, it looks like we may have to start using it again," Gillon said. One member of parliament, Centre Democrat leader Peter Duetoft, called opposition to Gillon's appointment "hypocritical" because Yasser Arafat, "the biggest terrorist", had recently visited Denmark without there having been similar objections.