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Thousands of Palestinian prisoners have been subjected to
waterboarding, sleep deprivation, electric shocks, the release of dogs
on them and other forms of torture and mistreatment, according to a
report by the UN Human Rights Office.
The report on detention, released on Wednesday local time, said
Israel's prison service held more than 9,400 "security detainees" as
of the end of June, and some have been held in secret without access
to lawyers or respect for their legal rights.
The authors of the report said its content was shared with the Israeli government. There was no immediate comment from Israeli authorities.
The report also said detainees had been forcibly removed from Gaza,
sometimes from bomb shelters, and dragged into detention in Israel
where dozens have died.
Many of those seized in Gaza since the war began on October 7 were
taken at checkpoints as they fled Israel's military offensive, or from
the schools and hospitals where they were sheltering, said the 23-page
report based primarily on interviews with released detainees and other
victims and witnesses.
The UN report outlined that, often, Palestinian prisoners were
blindfolded and shackled before being transported to Israel and placed
in "cage-like" military centres and forced to wear nothing but diapers
for prolonged periods.
Fifty-three detainees died in custody, the Office of the UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights said.
"The testimonies gathered by my office and other entities indicate a
range of appalling acts, such as waterboarding and the release of dogs
on detainees, amongst other acts, in flagrant violation of
international human rights law and international humanitarian law,"
said High Commissioner Volker Türk, in a statement accompanying the
report.
He called for their immediate release as well as the release of the
remaining Israeli hostages from among the 253 kidnapped in the October
7 attacks.
"Detainees said they were held in cage-like facilities, stripped naked
for prolonged periods, wearing only diapers," a summary of the report
said.
"Their testimonies told of prolonged blindfolding, deprivation of
food, sleep and water, and being subjected to electric shocks and
being burnt with cigarettes.
"Some detainees said dogs were released on them, and others said they
were subjected to waterboarding, or that their hands were tied and
they were suspended from the ceiling.
"Some women and men also spoke of sexual and gender-based violence."
The Palestinian detainees held in Israel are mostly men and boys and
included a range of people such as residents, doctors and nurses and
their patients, as well as captured Palestinian fighters, the report
said.
Generally they were held in secret, without being given a reason for
their detention or access to a lawyer, the report said.
The Israeli military has said it is investigating allegations of
mistreatment of detainees at facilities in Israel but has declined to
comment on specific cases.
It plans a phase out of the Sde Teiman camp in the Negev desert, cited
both in the UN report and by Palestinians rights group as a location
of detainee abuse.
Reports of mistreatment of detainees in Israeli prisons have been
growing in recent months.
The issue of detainees has added to international pressure on Israel
over its conduct of the Gaza war, now approaching the start of its
11th month.
In May, the US State Department said it was looking into allegations
of Israeli abuse of Palestinian detainees.
It is also sparking domestic tensions in Israel, where this week
right-wing protesters broke into military compounds where Israeli
soldiers were due to be questioned as part of an investigation into
alleged abuse of a Palestinian detainee.
The report did not say how many detainees have since been released.
A UN spokesperson said it was impossible to determine.
Findings in the report, one of the most extensive of its kind, could
be used by International Criminal Court prosecutors who are looking
into crimes committed in connection with the October 7 attacks and
their aftermath, including Israel's invasion of Gaza.
The war began on October 7 with a Hamas attack on southern Israel that
killed 1,200 people, with the militant group taking 253 hostage,
Israeli authorities have said.
Nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed since the Israeli invasion
of the occupied territory began in late October, according to Gazan
health authorities.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-31/un-report-on-palestinian-detainees-torture-waterboarding/104166500
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