Testimonies from 55 ex-Palestinian detainees reveal that greater than a dozen Israeli jail camps arrange after October 7 are devoted to the abuse of these in custody, a report by Israeli rights group B’Tselem says.
Israeli human rights group B’Tselem has collected testimonies from 55 Palestinians, together with 21 from the Gaza Strip, who had been held in Israeli prisons, detailing the torture they have been subjected to.
The B’Tselem report, titled Welcome to Hell, revealed on Tuesday that greater than a dozen Israeli jail amenities have been transformed right into a community of camps “devoted to the abuse of inmates” for the reason that begin of Israel’s struggle on Gaza.
“Such areas, through which each inmate is deliberately condemned to extreme, relentless ache and struggling, function in actual fact as torture camps,” it mentioned.
The violations embody “frequent acts of extreme, arbitrary violence; sexual assault; humiliation and degradation; deliberate hunger; compelled unhygienic situations; sleep deprivation; prohibition on, and punitive measures for, non secular worship; confiscation of all communal and private belongings; and denial of sufficient medical remedy”.
B’Tselem mentioned at the least 60 Palestinians have died in Israeli custody since October 7, together with about 48 folks from Gaza.
The report mentioned that detainee testimonies exhibit “a systemic, institutional coverage centered on the continuous abuse and torture of all Palestinian prisoners”.
This coverage, it mentioned, is applied below the course of Minister of Nationwide Safety Itamar Ben-Gvir, with the complete help of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Given the severity of the acts, the extent to which the provisions of worldwide regulation are being violated, and the truth that these violations are directed on the whole inhabitants of Palestinian prisoners each day and over time – the one attainable conclusion is that in finishing up these acts, Israel is committing torture that quantities to a struggle crime and even against the law in opposition to humanity,” the report mentioned in its conclusion.
Name for ICC probe
It referred to as on the Worldwide Prison Courtroom (ICC) to analyze “people suspected of planning, directing and committing these crimes”, saying the probe was not attainable inside Israel “since all state techniques, together with the judiciary, have been mobilized in help of those torture camps”.
B’Tselem additionally famous that the variety of Palestinians held in Israeli jails has doubled to 9,623 for the reason that struggle on Gaza started.
“We attraction to all nations and to all worldwide establishments and our bodies to do all the pieces of their energy to place a direct finish to the cruelties meted out on Palestinians by Israel’s jail system, and to acknowledge the Israeli regime working this technique as an apartheid regime that should come to an finish,” the group concluded.
There was no rapid response to the report from the Israeli authorities.