Ramallah, August 29 (RHC)– Two Palestinian prisoners’ advocacy groups say detainees from Gaza are enduring severe torture and humiliating treatment inside Israeli detention facilities across the occupied territories.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) and the Palestinian Authority’s Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs released a report detailing systematic mistreatment within the underground Rakevet section of Ramla Prison and the Sde Teiman military camp, both known for brutal abuse of Palestinian detainees.
The briefings, titled ‘Enduring Hell: Gaza Detainees Face Severe Israeli Torture and Terror Behind Bars’, are based on testimonies collected between late July and mid-August. The findings chronicle the circumstances experienced by individuals detained after being abducted from Gaza, depicting these conditions as among the most dire in many years.
Lawyers who visited inmates in the underground Rakevet unit of Ramla Prison reported that the detainees arrived for their meetings in a state of visible distress, with some weeping and unable to express their traumatic experiences.
Before the visits, the guards physically assaulted and intimidated them, cautioning that they should inform their lawyers that the conditions were “excellent”. Lawyers were likewise prohibited from disclosing information regarding the families of detainees in Gaza, where the ongoing Israeli genocidal war has killed more than 62,000 Palestinians.
Inmates recounted a system characterized by physical assaults, enforced solitude, and mental anguish. They are deprived of sunlight, permitted merely 20 minutes outdoors every other day, restrained with handcuffs, and compelled to bow their heads.
Mattresses are distributed exclusively at night, leaving the detainees to rest on metal frames throughout the day. Insults and humiliation are pervasive, as guards are said to compel detainees to curse their own families.
One detainee seemed to have suffered severe beatings, with deep marks on his wrists from handcuffs and streaks of tears on his face. He stayed quiet throughout the meeting, indicating with his gaze that he was too fearful to voice his thoughts. Lawyers noted a significant level of psychological distress among all detainees they visited.
Multiple detainees reported experiencing severe types of torture while being interrogated and held in detention.
Several detainees described brutal torture during interrogation. One prisoner, identified as AY, said he was arrested in December 2023 and subjected to continuous beatings for 30 days, resulting in torn chest muscles and ongoing pain from prolonged shackling.
Another detainee, YD, reported violent head injuries and rib fractures from beatings during interrogation.
The conditions under which Palestinian inmates are held by Israel are deplorable, with insufficient hygienic standards. Additionally, Palestinian abductees have faced ongoing torture, harassment, and repression.
Palestinian abductees have persistently engaged in open-ended hunger strikes to convey their anger regarding their unlawful detention. Human rights organizations assert that Israel persists in infringing upon all rights and freedoms afforded to abductees under the Fourth Geneva Convention and international laws.
As reported by the Palestine Detainees Studies Center, approximately 60 percent of Palestinian abductees held in Israeli jails are afflicted with chronic illnesses, with several of them having died either during their detention or following their release as a result of the severity of their conditions.
[SOURCE:PRESS TV and NEWS AGENCIES]
