Thousands of Palestinian prisoners are victims of “ill-treatment and torture” systematic in Israeli prisons since the Hamas attack on October 7 in Israel, the Israeli human rights NGO B’Tselem reported on Tuesday, August 6.
Testimonies from 55 former detainees revealed “inhumane conditions”according to the NGO’s report, stressing that more than ten penitentiary establishments were used as « de facto torture camps ».
“The testimonies clearly indicate a systematic institutional policy focused on the mistreatment and torture of all Palestinian prisoners held by Israel”is it written in the rapport. Former inmates described “frequent acts of serious and arbitrary violence, sexual assault, humiliation and degradation, deliberate food deprivation, forced hygiene conditions, and sleep deprivation”adds the NGO.
Asked by Agence France-Presse (AFP), the Israeli prison administration, which manages the country’s prisons, said that “all prisoners were lawfully detained and their fundamental rights were fully respected by competent and professional prison officers and managers”. The report’s claims are ” unfounded “the prison administration said.
“The army categorically rejects allegations of mistreatment”
For its part, the Israeli army declared that “Any act of mistreatment of detainees, whether during arrest or interrogation, was illegal and contrary to Israeli military directives and strictly prohibited.”.
“The Israeli military categorically rejects allegations of systematic mistreatment in its detention centers”the army added in a statement to AFP.
The publication of B’Tselem’s findings comes a week after another United Nations report found that Palestinian prisoners were subjected to treatment that amounted to torture.
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In July, the Israeli military reported that nine soldiers had been arrested for allegedly mistreating a Palestinian detainee at a facility housing Palestinians arrested in the Gaza Strip.
On Monday, a group of United Nations experts warned against “the escalation of the use of torture” by Israel against Palestinian prisoners since the start of the Gaza war on October 7.
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According to B’Tselem, Israeli authorities said “State of emergency in prisons” October 18, eleven days after the bloody attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Israel, which, in retaliation, triggered war in the Gaza Strip. “Incessant physical and psychological violence, denial of medical treatment, hunger, water deprivation, sleep deprivation, and confiscation of all personal belongings are now enforced in all prisons.”according to the report.
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