Amnesty calls torture and sexual abuse of Palestinian prisoners a ‘war crime’

Amnesty International documents on torture and ill-treatment of Palestinian prisoners in Israel’s Sde Teiman military camp

Israel’s inhumane treatment of Palestinian prisoners at the Sde Teiman prison in southern Israel, including torture and sexual assault, are “war crimes,” according to an official at Amnesty International, a global human rights watchdog.

“In its recent investigation, Amnesty International documented the harrowing torture and other ill-treatment of Palestinian prisoners in the Sde Teiman military camp and other detention facilities,” Sara Hashash, deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, told Anadolu. Amnesty. .

Hasas added that in the context of an armed conflict, torture and other ill-treatment, including sexual violence, constitute “war crimes”.

He said the organization interviewed 27 former detainees — all civilians arrested from the occupied Gaza Strip — including 20 men, six women and one child, who were held for periods ranging from two weeks to 140 days in military or Israeli prison service -Administration of detention facilities.

“They all said that during their incommunicado detention, Israeli military, intelligence and police forces subjected them to torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment,” he added.

“Blindfolded and handcuffed”

Those held at the notorious Sde Teiman military camp said they were “blindfolded and handcuffed the whole time” and held there, he added.

He said they described being forced to remain in stressful positions for many hours and not being allowed to speak to each other or raise their heads.

These accounts are consistent with findings by other human rights organizations and UN bodies, as well as numerous reports based on accounts of complaints and released prisoners, he added.

On the reported gang-rape of a Palestinian prisoner at the facility, he said the incident provided further evidence of the horrific torture and other ill-treatment of Palestinian prisoners that Amnesty International had already documented in its recent investigation.

Because of Israel’s poor track record in impartial investigation, he said there must be an independent impartial investigation by the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice and to prevent future violations.

He stressed the urgent need for Israel to provide immediate access to the detention facilities for independent observers.

The ICC urged to investigate

“Amnesty International calls on the ICC Prosecutor to urgently investigate all allegations of torture, including sexual violence, against Palestinian prisoners. “The Israeli judiciary has an appalling record of failing to reliably investigate allegations of torture by Palestinians,” he added.

The international community must also demand that Israeli authorities grant “immediate and unrestricted access” to independent observers to all detention facilities to assess conditions, he added.

On Sunday, an Israeli military court decided to extend the detention of five soldiers accused of sexually assaulting a Palestinian detainee from Gaza at Sde Teiman prison in the Negev desert in southern Israel, local media reported.

On July 29, Israel’s official broadcaster KAN reported that 10 Israeli soldiers were arrested after causing serious injuries to the Palestinian prisoner, but five of them were later released.

Palestinian, Israeli and international human rights reports recently reported that Gazan prisoners were tortured in prison, leading to the deaths of dozens of them.

Israel, in defiance of a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued violent assault on Gaza following last October’s attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

Nearly 39,600 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and nearly 91,400 injured, according to local health authorities.

Nearly 10 months after Israel’s war, vast swathes of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before its May 6 invasion.