DaysofPal- Since October 2023, Palestinian prisoners have been subjected to systematic and intensified torture measures behind Israeli bars, including reducing food supplies, medical negligence, sexual abuse, and beating to death.
Numerous cases of torture have been documented by prisoners’ lawyers or newly-released prisoners.
Over the past months, dozens of prisoners were released in appalling condition with unkempt heads and thick beards, emaciated bodies, pale faces, and difficult health conditions.
Shocking Numbers
According to the latest statistics released by the Palestinian Authority for Prisoners and Ex-Released Prisoners, the Palestinian Prisoner Society, and the Addameer Association, the total number of arrests has exceeded 11,000 cases in the occupied West Bank, including Jerusalem. This statistic includes those who were later released as well as those who remain in custody.
These figures do not also include Gaza’s 4,500 detainees, whose hundreds of them were released. Additionally, hundreds of Gaza’s workers and patients were detained from within the1948-occupied territories.
Meanwhile, 420 Palestinian women were detained in the West Bank and 1948-occupied territories. Gaza’s female prisoners, which are estimated to be in the dozens, were not included in the figures.
Additionally, the figures include 740 child prisoners, 108 journalists, 59 of whom remain in detention, including 7 female journalists.
Since the beginning of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, the number of administrative detention orders has exceeded 8,872.
According to the rights organizations, at least 25 prisoners have died in Israeli occupation prisons since October 7, whose identities have been revealed and announced. However, dozens of Gaza’s prisoners died in Israeli prisons and detention centers without being identified.
As of early September 2024, there were more than 9,900 inmates housed in Israeli occupation prisons, 3,323 of whom were in administrative detention.
Systematic Policy
The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor stated that it received testimonies from Palestinian prisoners who were recently released from Israeli prisons and detention centers, confirming that they were subjected to “violent torture, inhumane treatment in a systematic manner.
The Monitor explained that the torture has escalated to the extent of “murder, rape, and other forms of sexual violence, as well as forced injections with unknown substances, leaving scars and distinct marks” on the bodies of the prisoners.
Furthermore, testimonies from Gaza’s newly-released prisoners released in the Gaza Strip confirmed that Israeli forces continue to torture them despite knowing they are civilians.
Unprecedented Violations
Murshid Al-Shawamra from the town of Al-Ram, north of occupied Jerusalem, recounts horrific details about his detention in Israeli prisons, where he spent 16 months in “Negev” and “Remand on” prisons. The most difficult months were those that followed the start of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip a year ago.
Al-Shawamra, who has experienced imprisonment five times before, states that he has never witnessed conditions as dire as those in his most recent detention. The Israeli prison administration adopted unprecedented arbitrary policies during this time, subjecting prisoners to severe abuses, which led to the deaths of many of them.
He confirms that the Israeli racist escalation of racist practices against Palestinian prisoners began before the Gaza genocide in October 2023, with the extremist minister Itamar Ben Gvir regularly storming the prisons and threatening prisoners. However, he exploited the war circumstances to implement his racist schemes and atrocities against them.
Beating to Kill
Regarding the beatings and abuses, he confirmed that the guards were brutally beating the prisoners with iron batons with the intent to kill. He pointed out that he, himself, was severely beaten with iron batons by eight guards at once, resulting in severe fractures to his rib cage. However, he received no medical treatment after sustaining this serious injury and was unable to move for an extended period.
Al-Shawamra recalls one of the most difficult cases that occurred in the section where he was held in “Negev” prison: the martyrdom of prisoner Thaer Abu Asab in November 2023, who was beaten to death by guards simply for asking if there was an anticipated ceasefire in Gaza. After his death, the guards left him lying on the ground for two hours before transporting him.
Among the most significant violations documented in this context are: starvation, medical negligence, torture, and various forms of assaults. In addition to all these violations, the prisoners are denied family visits or to have any connection with the external world, including their lawyers or the Red Cross representatives.
The Crime of Forced Disappearance
Meanwhile, there are large numbers of unidentified prisoners from the Gaza Strip who are subjected to the crime of enforced disappearance after being kidnapped from the Gaza Strip. As of now, there is no accurate information regarding their numbers or the number of those who lost their lives behind bars.
It is important to mention that enforced disappearance is classified under international laws and conventions as a crime against humanity.
Crimes Against the Wounded
The rights organizations clarified in a joint statement published at the beginning of October that “Israeli occupation forces have escalated arrests of the wounded since the start of the Gaza war. This includes those who were injured prior to their arrest or those who were shot during their arrest.
These injured prisoners are held under very harsh and tragic conditions, subjected to serious medical negligence
Shortlink for this post: https://daysofpalestine.ps/?p=57753
