Are Palestinians being tortured in Israeli prisons? | Israel-Palestine conflict news

Israel detained nine soldiers working at the Sde Teiman detention camp in the Naqab (Negev) desert, accused of abusing Palestinians detained there.

The base – which has been compared to Guantánamo – has been used as a facility to house Palestinians detained in Gaza and detained without charge. Many now point to the soldiers’ detention as evidence of continued abuse of prisoners. Reports from human rights organizations indicate that at least 13 prisoners have died due to abuse in Israeli prisons – and the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported the number as high as 27 – since October 7, when Israel’s current war against Gaza began.

However, right-wing Israelis – including senior ministers and politicians – reacted angrily to the soldiers’ arrests on Monday, and a mob stormed the gates of Sde Teiman in an effort to free the soldiers. The detained soldiers were taken to another facility.

What was Israel accused of doing to Palestinian prisoners in Sde Teiman?

Members of a unit known as Force 100 are alleged to have committed “substantial abuses” against Palestinian prisoners. Israeli media reported that a prisoner was taken to hospital after suffering serious injuries that left him unable to walk. The “severe injury to the buttocks” could not have been self-inflicted, medical officials reportedly said.

Abuse of Palestinian prisoners has previously been reported in Sde Teiman. A Palestinian journalist detained at the base told a lawyer that he witnessed the rape of Gaza detainees.

International media outlets such as CNN and the Associated Press (AP) also reported on conditions in Sde Teiman. The CNN report, based on testimony from three Israelis who worked at the base, said Palestinians detained without charge were blindfolded, beaten and held in stress positions. Whistleblowers alleged that some prisoners even had their limbs amputated after they were seriously injured from being constantly handcuffed.

A worker who spoke to the AP said most detainees were forced to wear diapers and not allowed to use the bathroom. The same report stated that some of those detained at the base appeared to be non-combatants and that disease was rife due to the conditions in which the prisoners were held.

Is it only in Sde Teiman that this abuse is being reported?

Similar allegations have been reported at prisons holding Palestinians in Israel and the occupied West Bank.

Reporting from Gaza following the release of prisoners from Ofer prison in the West Bank in early July, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said eight former prisoners said they were tortured and deprived of medicine and clothing. Some of the prisoners showed signs of physical abuse on their bodies.

Another released prisoner, Muhammad Abu Salmiya – the director of Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital – said that several prisoners died in interrogation centers and that prisoners were beaten.

Isn’t this torture under international law?

The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1984, defines torture as “any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person ”. for purposes such as extracting information or a confession, or punishing an act suspected of having been committed.

The description of acts committed against Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, if proven, appears to correspond to this definition.

Amnesty International has previously called on Israel to end what it called the “rampant torture” taking place in its prisons, saying it had documented 31 cases of prisoners held incommunicado and found credible evidence of the widespread use of torture.

How did Israel respond to the accusations?

Despite numerous reports of prisoner abuse and deaths, Israel has not previously publicly acknowledged any investigation into the conduct of soldiers and guards working in prisons.

However, with the growing attention paid to Israel in the wake of the South African genocide case at the International Court of Justice, and with the arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant requested by the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, appears to be under greater pressure to act.

The Israeli military launched an investigation into prisoner abuse at Sde Teiman and nine soldiers were detained for questioning.

However, the measure was met with outrage by many Israelis who oppose any punishment for abuses committed against Palestinians.

Following a clash between soldiers in Sde Teiman and another force that had come to detain the accused soldiers, a crowd gathered at the base’s gates and forced entry.

Protesters then attempted to storm the Beit Lid military base, where the detained soldiers were taken.

How divided is Israel over the soldiers’ detention?

The right in Israel has clearly stated its position: it opposes any legal consequences for soldiers and sees the abuse of Palestinian detainees as justified. A member of the Israeli parliament told a committee meeting that it was “legitimate” to do anything if the detainee was a member of Hamas’ elite forces, including inserting a rod into his rectum.

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said on Monday he was on his way to Sde Teiman to demand the soldiers’ release, while the chairman of parliament’s foreign affairs and defense committee, Yuli Edelstein, said who would hold a hearing meeting on Tuesday to discuss the arrests, calling them a “despicable persecution of our soldiers” that was “unacceptable.”

The head of the armed forces, Herzi Halevi, however, condemned the protests and Netanyahu released a brief statement, condemning the attack on the base and calling for calm.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid said the mob attack was an “attempted coup d’état by an armed militia against a weak prime minister who is incapable of controlling his government,” serving as a reminder of the deep divisions in Israeli politics. and the accusations that Netanyahu faces of being forced to bow to the extreme right to keep his coalition alive.