Testimonies from Palestinian prisoners and international human rights centres point to a widespread and dangerous wave of violations inside Israeli occupation prisons, especially since 7 October 2023.
In recent reports, B’Tselem confirmed that torture in these prisons is not an isolated occurrence, but rather an institutional policy involving the occupation’s intelligence services, the Shin Bet, and the prison administration, aimed at breaking the prisoners’ will and humiliating their human dignity.
B’Tselem documents cases of direct physical torture, including beatings with rifles, sticks and military boots, electric shocks, and prolonged ‘shackling’ for hours on end, which has led to recorded deaths without any official investigation. Reports also reveal a comprehensive system of psychological and sensory torture, including depriving prisoners of sleep, food and water, placing them in metal tents or isolated containers, threatening them with execution or assault on their families, and forcing them to listen to the screams of others being tortured.
Sexual assault and medical neglect in Israeli prisons
After 7 October 2023, sexual assault became a tool of deliberate “collective humiliation” in Israeli prisons, including forced stripping, physical harassment during interrogation, threats of rape, and documented incidents of rape inside the Sde Teman camp against detainees from Gaza. B’Tselem asserts that these violations are classified under the Rome Statute as war crimes and crimes against humanity, as they intentionally violate human dignity.
The organisation has also documented deliberate medical negligence, whereby patients with diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and cancer are denied treatment, the wounded are left without care, bandages are deliberately removed to cause pain, and the majority are denied adequate food, hot water, clothing and contact with their families. This constitutes indirect torture and causes severe physical and psychological suffering.
Collective humiliation and lack of international oversight
Violations in Israeli prisons include collective humiliation, such as keeping prisoners blindfolded and handcuffed in the heat or cold, forcibly shaving their heads and faces, forcing them to sit in painful positions for long hours, chanting slogans or kissing the Israeli flag. These practices have resulted in the deaths of 81 prisoners as of the time of writing, in the absence of independent legal or human rights oversight.
B’Tselem noted that a large number of prisoners were transferred to field detention camps such as Sde Teman, Rikav and Atmit, facilities that lack humanitarian and legal standards and where detainees are often held without trial, turning them into ‘black sites’ for torture.
International silence legitimises violations
Despite the documentation of these crimes in Israeli prisons, the authors of the reports note that the violations continue amid a disturbing international silence, which contributes to undermining the international justice system, legitimises the use of torture as a political weapon against Palestinian prisoners, and renders efforts to protect human rights in the region ineffective on the ground.
Featured image via the Canary
By Alaa Shamali
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