GAZA –
On Monday, the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor reported that the
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) invited groups of Israeli civilians into detention
centers and prisons holding Palestinian prisoners from the Gaza Strip,
permitting the civilians to witness torture crimes against the prisoners, with
many allowed to film them on their own phones.
اضافة اعلان
Arrested
during IOF
ground incursions in Gaza, the prisoners were held for varying
periods of time inside two detention centers: one located in the Zikim area on
the northern border of the Gaza Strip, and another affiliated with the Naqab
prison in southern Israel.
The
released prisoners told
Euro-Med Monitor that the IOF soldiers had purposefully
presented them before Israeli civilians, falsely claiming that they were
fighters affiliated with Palestinian resistance groups and that they had taken
part on
October 7.
According
to testimony received by Euro-Med Monitor, groups of 10–20 Israeli civilians at
a time were permitted to watch and laughingly film Palestinian prisoners in
their underwear while IOF soldiers subjected them to verbal and physical abuse,
including beating them with metal batons, electric sticks, and pouring hot
water on their heads.
The
Euro-Med Monitor added this as a new crime to the list of those committed by
the IOF against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, specifically against prisoners
who are subjected to cruel torture, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests,
and denials of a fair trial, among other atrocities.
Palestinian
Omar Abu Mudallala, 43, told the Euro-Med Monitor team, “I was arrested at the
checkpoint set up near the Kuwait roundabout, which separates Gaza City from
the central region, as part of the Israeli random arrest campaigns. I was
subjected to all types of torture and abuse for approximately 52 days,”
pointing out that Israeli soldiers “brought
Israeli civilians to watch our nude torture.”
“The
IOF brought a number of Israeli civilians into our detention centers while
beating us,” Abu Mudallala added. “And told them, ‘These are Hamas terrorists
who killed you and
raped your women on October 7,’ while the Israeli civilians
were filming us being beaten, abused, and tortured while making fun of us.”
“I was arrested at the checkpoint set up near the Kuwait roundabout, which separates Gaza City from the central region, as part of the Israeli random arrest campaigns. I was subjected to all types of torture and abuse for approximately 52 days,” pointing out that Israeli soldiers “brought Israeli civilians to watch our nude torture.”
"This
happened five times while I was being held. The first time was in Barkasat
Zikim, where we were blindfolded. However, one of the detainees who speaks
Hebrew told us that the soldiers were interacting with Israeli civilians,
claiming that we were armed fighters. The other four incidents took place in
the Negev detention facility, where successive Israeli groups were taken inside
tents to witness our abuse and record the torture methods we were subjected to
without allowing us to speak or interact with them. Since we were not wearing
blindfolds at the time, I saw them all four times with my own eyes."
Abu
Mudallala said that "one of the prisoners who speaks Hebrew tried to
explain to the Israeli civilians that we are civilians and we had nothing to do
with any military activities, but that also did not help. However, he was
subjected to severe psychological and
physical torture. It was really shameful
to bring Israeli citizens to record our torture for being allegedly involved in
killing and rape incidents."
Forty-two-year-old
D.H. also told Euro-Med Monitor, "Israeli civilians were brought to
witness the abuse and torture that we were subjected to, which the army
deliberately began when they were present. These Israelis sometimes brought
their dogs with them to bark at us. They also took pictures of us and posted
them on social media apps, particularly
TikTok. The soldiers themselves did the
same.”
The
IOF’s torture and inhumane treatment of Palestinian prisoners is illegal under
the Rome Statute and constitutes crimes against humanity. The IOF’s staging of
these abuses as entertainment for Israeli civilians and subsequent photography
of the victims amounts to a grave violation of the dignity of these
individuals, as well as the commission of war crimes.
Euro-Med
Monitor warned of the dire consequences of introducing Israeli civilians into
arrest and detention centers, displaying Palestinian detainees to them during
torture, and letting them use their personal phones to document these inhumane
practices. This is a retaliatory approach that falls within the framework of
promoting false Israeli propaganda, perpetuating a state of extremism,
fueling hatred, and inflaming Israeli public opinion to incite more crimes and
rights violations against Palestinians.
“The IOF brought a number of Israeli civilians into our detention centers while beating us,” Abu Mudallala added. “And told them, ‘These are Hamas terrorists who killed you and raped your women on October 7,’ while the Israeli civilians were filming us being beaten, abused, and tortured while making fun of us.”
Euro-Med
Human Rights Monitor asserted that the vast majority of those arrested from
within the Gaza Strip have been subjected to arbitrary detention without being
charged or brought to justice, with no legal measures taken against them. They
are also denied a fair trial and are subjected to forced disappearance,
torture, and inhumane treatment. Euro-Med Monitor called on the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to inspect Israeli detention centers and
prisons holding Palestinian prisoners, investigate the horrific violations and
crimes they are subjected to, and work to bring these conditions to light
immediately.
Furthermore,
Euro-Med Monitor asserted that Israeli practices against Palestinian detainees
are blatant violations of international conventions and standards, particularly
the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention, which forbids an occupying authority from
transferring prisoners from the occupied territory to detention facilities on
its territory, as well as torturing, attacking, or otherwise degrading the
human dignity of those detained.
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