UN slams ‘unacceptable’ treatment of Palestinian detainees
The United Nations expressed its condemnation on Wednesday after reports emerged of “unacceptable” violations against Palestinian prisoners, including torture, especially since the Israeli war on Gaza on October 7, calling for an investigation.
Regarding the Israeli occupation army tying a wounded Palestinian to a military vehicle during a raid in the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, said at a press conference in Geneva that it is “sickening to see such completely unacceptable treatment,” adding that “there must be a transparent and independent investigation to find out what happened and to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice.”
Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman for Turk, urged accountability in this case, warning that without it, “brazen violations like this will continue with impunity,” adding that “at some point, you run out of words of condemnation to use in such incidents,” arguing that “denigrating and dehumanizing an entire community almost enables and facilitates the behavior of Israeli forces.”
Shamdasani said the UN human rights office “has received disturbing and distressing reports of how Israeli forces have treated Palestinian detainees since October 7,” adding that the reports include “people held in solitary confinement who are subjected to torture, ill-treatment, handcuffing and deprivation of food, water, and medicine,” also referring to sexual abuse of detainees.
“It is unacceptable and must stop,” she said, noting that the Human Rights Office had raised the issue directly with the Israeli authorities and called for “a transparent investigation into these allegations.” She explained that under international law, “there is an absolute prohibition on the use of torture under any circumstances,” including during wars.
Mohammed Abu Salmiya, director of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, said after the Israeli occupation authorities released him on Monday along with dozens of other prisoners, that he was subjected to “severe torture” during his detention.
Since the start of the ground battles in the Gaza Strip on October 27, Israel has arrested thousands of Palestinians, including women, children, health workers, and civil defense personnel. A small number of them were later released, while the fate of the others remains unknown.
With full American support, the Israeli war on Gaza since October 7 has resulted in more than 125,000 Palestinian martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing amidst massive destruction and famine that has claimed the lives of dozens of children.
