{"id":270790,"date":"2024-08-12T12:00:05","date_gmt":"2024-08-12T11:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=270790"},"modified":"2024-08-02T05:00:52","modified_gmt":"2024-08-02T04:00:52","slug":"israeli-military-in-spotlight-over-incommunicado-detention-torture-of-palestinians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2024\/08\/israeli-military-in-spotlight-over-incommunicado-detention-torture-of-palestinians\/","title":{"rendered":"Israeli Military in Spotlight over \u2018Incommunicado\u2019 Detention, Torture of Palestinians"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_270791\" style=\"width: 710px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/gaza-israel-genocide-palestine-1.jpg\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-270791\" class=\"wp-image-270791\" src=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/gaza-israel-genocide-palestine-1-1024x464.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"317\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/gaza-israel-genocide-palestine-1-1024x464.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/gaza-israel-genocide-palestine-1-300x136.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/gaza-israel-genocide-palestine-1-768x348.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/gaza-israel-genocide-palestine-1.jpg 1170w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-270791\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Detainees were arrested by the Israeli military for remaining in areas subjected to evacuation orders, the UN Human Rights Office Report indicated.\u00a0 \u00a9 UNOCHA\/Themba Linden<\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p>31 Jul 2024 &#8211; <em>A new UN <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/en\/documents\/reports\/detention-context-escalation-hostilities-gaza\"  target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Report<\/a> published today into alleged abuses carried out against thousands of Palestinians detained by the Israeli authorities since the genocide erupted in Gaza last October has documented a range of serious violations and torture.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThe staggering number of men, women, children, doctors, journalists and human rights defenders detained since 7 October, most of them without charge or trial and held in deplorable conditions, along with reports of ill-treatment and torture and violation of due process guarantees, raises serious concerns regarding the arbitrariness and the fundamentally punitive nature of such arrests and detention,\u201d said UN Human Rights Chief Volker T\u00fcrk, whose Office released the report.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Waterboarding claim<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>\u201cThe testimonies gathered by my Office and other entities indicate a range of appalling acts, such as waterboarding and the release of dogs on detainees<\/strong>, amongst other acts, in flagrant violation of international human rights law and international humanitarian law,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The report by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/EN\/pages\/home.aspx\"  target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">OHCHR<\/a>) details the treatment of medical staff, patients and residents fleeing the conflict, as well as captured fighters taken from the enclave, the occupied West Bank and Israel, since Hamas-led terror attacks on southern Israel sparked the war.<\/p>\n<p>At least 53 Palestinian detainees have died in Israeli military facilities and prisons since 7 October.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Thousands of Palestinians have been detained in Gaza, West Bank &amp; Israel in violation of international human rights &amp; humanitarian law &#8211; finds <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/UNHumanRights?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" >@UNHumanRights<\/a> report.<\/p>\n<p>Hostages held in Gaza must be released. All Palestinians arbitrarily detained by Israel must be released.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/UNHumanRights\/status\/1818566984792977546?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" >July 31, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cThey do not know if those detained are alive or dead,\u201d<\/strong> said the report\u2019s authors, recounting the experience of family members whose mainly male relatives have been taken away<strong> \u201cusually shackled and blindfolded\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) from various parts of Gaza. \u201c<strong>They have not heard anything about their fate or wellbeing since then.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Unlikely targets<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Of those arrested in Gaza \u2013 including staff from the UN agency providing assistance to Palestine refugees, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unrwa.org\/\"  target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">UNRWA<\/a> &#8211; \u201c<strong>many were taken into custody while sheltering in schools, hospitals and residential buildings, or at checkpoints during the forced displacement of large numbers of Palestinians from north to south Gaza<\/strong>,\u201d the report notes. \u201cIn most cases, men and adolescent boys were detained, although women, including a woman over 80 years of age and with Alzheimer\u2019s disease and girls without any apparent link to armed groups, have also been detained.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The OHCHR dossier was compiled by means of interviews with released Palestinian detainees as well as monitoring and analysis conducted by the OHCHR office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>In harm\u2019s way<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>It contains testimonies of men held in Gaza by the IDF, including UNRWA staff members who claim that they were \u201cforced by IDF soldiers to enter tunnels and buildings in Gaza ahead of soldiers\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Other testimonies point to Palestinians being <strong>detained \u201cen masse for screening\u201d<\/strong> by the Israeli military, or for remaining in areas covered by IDF evacuation orders. \u201cMany of the released detainees, who all claim and appear to be civilians, said they were interrogated without legal representation, about locations of tunnels and\/or hostages,\u201d OHCHR said.<\/p>\n<p>The development follows Monday\u2019s announcement by the Israeli authorities that they were investigating a number of soldiers for allegedly abusing a Palestinian prisoner earlier this month at the Sde Teiman detention centre in the Negev desert.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Whistleblower insight<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>According to information from Israeli medical personnel and whistleblowers cited in the report, injured detainees from Gaza \u201cwere held at a field hospital established in the Sde Teiman compound, where they were <strong>blindfolded at all times, their arms and legs shackled to their beds, and they were fed through a straw<\/strong>\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>At another prison in the Negev desert, one former prisoner alleged that he had been \u201cfrequently beaten in front of his son\u201d who was also detained. Ill-treatment was \u201cwidespread\u201d, particularly in military-run detention facilities, the OHCHR report maintained.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Stripped naked<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>In addition to those taken from Gaza, \u201cthousands more\u201d have been detained in the West Bank and Israel \u201cand generally in secret\u201d, the report\u2019s authors note.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDetainees said they were held in cage-like facilities, stripped naked for prolonged periods, wearing only diapers. Their testimonies told of prolonged blindfolding, deprivation of food, sleep and water, and being subjected to electric shocks and being burnt with cigarettes\u2026Some women and men also spoke of sexual and gender-based violence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to the report, Israel has also not provided information regarding the fate or whereabouts of many of those detained, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been\u00a0denied access to facilities where they are held.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInternational humanitarian law protects all those being held, requiring their humane treatment and protection against all acts of violence or threats thereof,\u201d said UN human rights chief Volker T\u00fcrk, who insisted that \u201call Palestinians arbitrarily detained by\u00a0Israel must be released\u201d.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Rights chief\u2019s call<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>He added that international law \u201cstrictly prohibits torture or other ill-treatment, including rape and other forms of sexual violence\u201d, while \u201csecret, prolonged incommunicado\u00a0detention may also amount to a form of torture\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The High Commissioner for Human Rights also reiterated his call for the immediate release of all hostages still held in Gaza who are believed to number 116, of whom 42 are believed to have died, according to the Israeli authorities, as of 25 June.<\/p>\n<p>The OHCHR report follows last month\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/en\/press-releases\/2024\/06\/un-report-israeli-use-heavy-bombs-gaza-raises-serious-concerns-under-laws\"  target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">probe<\/a> into the Israeli military\u2019s bombing campaign of the enclave in which hundreds of people died after strikes on civilian targets including a school, refugee camp and market.<\/p>\n<p>The latest report\u2019s findings are based on monitoring and interviews conducted by the OHCHR office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The contributors in addition to Palestinian released detainees have included witnesses of violations, as well as information from human rights organizations and other civil society organizations, governmental entities &#8211; both Palestinian and Israeli &#8211; and other UN agencies, as well as information available through media and social media. Both the Israeli and Palestinian authorities received the report, OHCHR said.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/news.un.org\/en\/story\/2024\/07\/1152681\" >Go to Original &#8211; news.un.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>31 Jul 2024 &#8211; A new UN Report published today into alleged abuses carried out against thousands of Palestinians detained by the Israeli authorities since the genocide erupted in Gaza last October has documented a range of serious violations and torture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":93896,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[82],"tags":[1854,87,865,487,3264,88,427,572,1949,124,965,1025],"class_list":["post-270790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-united-nations","tag-crimes-against-humanity","tag-gaza","tag-genocide","tag-human-rights","tag-idf","tag-israel","tag-palestine","tag-torture","tag-un-human-rights-council","tag-united-nations","tag-war-crimes","tag-west-bank"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270790"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270790\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":270793,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270790\/revisions\/270793"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}