JERUSALEM, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Five Israeli soldiers were indicted on Thursday for beating two handcuffed Palestinian detainees.
The Israeli military said in a statement that the soldiers, all from the Jewish ultra-Orthodox battalion of Netzah Yehuda ("Judah's Eternity" in Hebrew), were arrested ten days ago.
According to the indictment, the defendants, four soldiers and their commander, are accused of striking the two Palestinians with slaps, punches, and bludgeons while they were handcuffed and blindfolded, causing them severe injuries.
The victims, a father and his son, were arrested in a raid in the town of al-Zaitounah in the Ramallah district on Jan. 8. During their transfer to detention, the soldiers took the blindfold off the son's eyes and forced him watching his father beaten up until his ribs and nose were broken.
The father and his son sustained serious injuries and needed hospital care.
The soldiers recorded themselves abusing the detainees with their smartphones and according to the indictment, they were cheering and boasting during the violence.
Two of the soldiers are also charged with obstructing justice after they allegedly coordinated their versions of the story to avoid arrest.
Israeli media reported that the soldiers were driven by revenge following a shooting attack at the settlement of Givat Assaf in January, in which two soldiers from their battalion were killed.
The Military Defense's office dismissed all charges, saying the defendants "are excellent soldiers, salt of the earth, whose friends were murdered a month ago and were put in an impossible situation."
Palestinian and Israeli human rights groups often report abuses of Palestinians' rights during arrests but these allegations are usually not followed with indictments.
