The shocking truth about Palestinian Israel’s prisoner abuse
In a damning report published on March 9, a rights group found that various Israeli detention centres for Palestinians were akin to the notorious Guantanamo Bay.
Guantanamo Bay of course, is the controversial, Cuba-based prison first established in 2002 by then US President George Bush as part of his administration’s so-called War on Terror.
His successor Barack Obama promised to close the camp during his time in office however eight years and two Presidents later, the prison remains in operation – although only housing some thirty inmates – much to the concern of human rights groups worldwide, notably Amnesty International, who have repeatedly said that the camp is in major breach of human rights.
Swiss-based group Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor found that Palestinians from Gaza are subjected to torture, humiliation and deprivation of basic human rights in Israeli detention centres.
This has particularly been the case following Hamas’ attacks on Israel in October with large swathes of Gazans being rounded up and banged up without trial or access to legal representatives.
It was recently found that 27 Palestinian prisoners died during interrogation as they were subjected to torture and denied access to medical treatment.
READ: UNRWA reports reveals Israel’s abuse on Gaza prisoners
The report notably gave attention to the Sde Teiman camp, just outside of the city of Be’er Sheva in southern Israel, and found that it had spiraled into a Guantanamo-esque camp since October.
Euro-Med Monitor found that, “Sde Teiman army camp has been turned into a Guantánamo-like prison. There, detainees are held in very harsh conditions, akin to open-air chicken cages, without access to food or drink for long periods of time, in addition to being subjected to severe torture, beatings, and ill-treatment to extract forced confessions and/or punish them for being Palestinians. They were also denied any contact with the outside world.
“The age range of the detainees in the Israeli camps includes children, youth, and the elderly. They are subjected to days of questioning in fenced compounds while blindfolded and with their hands tied. Testimonies state that in the course of the night, lights were turned on and shone brightly on them in an attempt to continuously exhaust them, rob them of sleep, subject them to various forms of torture and maltreatment. They were completely denied access to any legal representation or visits from the International Committee of the Red Cross.”
The rights group also called on the international community to “stop staying silent” on the abhorrent practices that Palestinian detainees at the aforementioned detention centres endure.
It is estimated that there are currently 3,000 Palestinians languishing in Israeli jails and a ceasefire agreement, which recently failed to make a breakthrough in Cairo, would have resulted in a six-week halt in the fighting in exchange for the release of all Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor/ Amnesty International/Haaretz
