Many of those arrested in Gaza were taken into custody in safe houses. UN report: Palestinian prisoners arbitrarily detained and tortured Human Rights
A UN report released Wednesday into alleged abuses against thousands of Palestinians detained by Israeli authorities since the start of the Gaza war last October documents a series of abuses that may amount to torture.
“The staggering number of men, women, children, doctors, journalists and human rights defenders detained since 7 October, most of them without charge or trial, and held in deplorable conditions, together with reports of ill-treatment and torture and violations of due process, raise serious concerns about the arbitrariness and inherently punitive nature of such arrests and detentions,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk.
Torture and Violence
According to Turk, Testimony points to a range of “horrific” acts, such as waterboarding and hounding detainees with dogs, in flagrant violation of international human rights law and international humanitarian law.
A report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) details the treatment of medical staff, patients and civilians fleeing the conflict in Gaza, as well as captured militants. At least 53 Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli military installations and prisons since October 7.
The OHCHR report was compiled based on interviews with released Palestinian prisoners, as well as monitoring and analysis by the UN Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Arrests of Fleeing Persons
Many of those arrested in Gaza, including staff from the UN Refugee Agency (UNRWA), were detained in shelters or at checkpoints “during the forced displacement of large numbers of Palestinians from north to south Gaza,” the report said. “Men and teenage boys were detained in most cases, but women, including a woman in her 80s with Alzheimer’s disease, and girls with no apparent ties to armed groups were also detained,” the authors added.
Family members whose relatives, mostly men, were taken away – “usually shackled and blindfolded” – are unaware of the fate of their loved ones, the report’s authors said.
Cruel Treatment
According to testimonies from men held in Gaza, including UNRWA staff, IDF troops “forced them to enter tunnels and buildings in Gaza before soldier”.
Other evidence suggests that Palestinians are being detained en masse “for screening” or because they remain in areas subject to evacuation orders. Many were interrogated without legal representation, the OHCHR report said.
Israeli authorities said on Monday that they were conducting a series of investigations into allegations of abuse of a Palestinian detainee earlier this month at the Sde Teiman detention centre in the Negev desert.
Military targets
According to information received from Israeli medical personnel and informants, the wounded detainees from Gaza “were kept in a field hospital set up in the Sde Teiman compound, where they were blindfolded at all times, had their hands and feet shackled to their beds and were fed through straw.”
One former detainee at another prison in the Negev desert claimed he was “frequently beaten in front of his son,” who was also detained. Abuse was “widespread,” particularly in military detention facilities, the OHCHR report said.
Denial of Humanitarian Access
Thousands of Palestinians have been detained in the West Bank and Israel, “mostly in secret,” the report said.
Detainees described being held in cages, often blindfolded and naked. They were deprived of food, water, sleep and access to toilets, and were forced to wear diapers. They were also subjected to electric shocks and cigarette burning, and some women and men also reported sexual and gender-based violence.
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According to the report, Israel has also failed to provide information on the fate or whereabouts of many of those detained, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been denied access to places of detention.
International Law
Volker Türk stressed that international humanitarian law requires that detainees be treated humanely and protected from all acts or threats of violence. He called for the release of all arbitrarily detained Palestinians.
Türk added that international law “strictly prohibits torture and other ill-treatment, including rape and other forms of sexual violence,” while “secret, prolonged incommunicado detention may also amount to a form of torture.”
The High Commissioner reiterated his call for the immediate release of all hostages still held in Gaza, believed to number 116. Including, according to Israeli authorities, 42 people have died as of June 25.
Both Israeli and Palestinian authorities have received the report, the OHCHR said.