Blindfolded, overwhelmed and typically bitten by canine, Gazans launched from Israeli prisons mentioned that they have been tortured amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, which rights teams say has worsened situations for detainees.
Mohammed Abu Salmiya, former director of Al-Shifa, Gaza’s greatest hospital, is the most recent to report mistreatment by Israel.
Salmiya, one amongst dozens of detainees freed Monday, mentioned “several inmates died in interrogation centres and were deprived of food and medicine.”
Israel’s military and Shin Bet intelligence service haven’t responded to his account, although they’ve rejected previous accusations.
While the United Nations and others have lengthy raised issues about situations for Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons, rights teams say authorized adjustments for the reason that Gaza conflict erupted have aggravated the scenario.
AFP interviewed a number of the 50 prisoners taken to Kamal Adwan Hospital within the Gaza Strip after their launch by Israel on June 11.
“I was beaten day and night. Our eyes were blindfolded, our hands and feet shackled and they set dogs on us,” Mahmud al-Zaanin, 37, recounted from his hospital mattress, noting the beatings typically focused his genitals.
– Legs amputated –
“They asked me where (Hamas leader) Yahya Sinwar was, where Hamas was, where our prisoners were, and why I participated on October 7,” he mentioned.
Zaanin mentioned he didn’t participate in Hamas’s October 7 assaults on Israel that led to 1,195 deaths, principally civilians, in response to an AFP tally primarily based on Israeli figures.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed not less than 38,011 individuals in Gaza, additionally principally civilians, in response to the well being ministry within the Hamas-run territory.
Zaanin mentioned he was disadvantaged of sleep and toilet entry and denied medical remedy. “We urinated in our clothes.”
Released inmate Othman al-Kafarneh instructed AFP his “hands were injured from electric torture” and described prisoners being blindfolded and moved, by no means realizing their areas.
Kafarneh mentioned he noticed “more than 30 prisoners with amputated legs, some with both legs missing, and some with both eyes missing.”
In April, the Haaretz newspaper quoted a letter to Israel’s defence ministry from a health care provider at an Israeli military camp.
“Prisoners from Gaza have had their legs amputated due to the effects of shackles, they defecate in diapers and are continuously restrained, which violates medical ethics and the law,” it mentioned.
In May, AFP questioned launched prisoners at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Gaza, the place Musa Yussef Mansur recounted, “We slept for two hours, then they brought dogs and set them on us at night”.
“Some young men died from excess beatings and dog attacks,” Mansur mentioned, displaying scars on his arms which he mentioned have been from canine bites.
– Legal battle –
The United Nations has referred to as Israel’s remedy of prisoners “unacceptable”.
Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the UN human rights commissioner, instructed AFP: “We have acquired studies of torture, mistreatment, handcuffing, deprivation of meals, of water of remedy, and these are very worrying studies.
“We have raised them directly with the Israeli authorities and we have asked for a transparent investigation.”
After Hamas’s assaults, Israel’s parliament amended detention guidelines.
Changes to the Unlawful Combatants Law in December have been used to detain Palestinians in particular camps, together with Sde Teiman within the Negev desert the place Salmiya was held.
Israel can now detain prisoners for 45 days with out an administrative course of, in contrast with 96 hours beforehand.
Prisoners will be held for 75 days with no courtroom listening to, up from 14 days, and this may be prolonged to 180 days.
Judges can stop a detainee from contacting a lawyer.
“Some detainees have not been visited by a lawyer for more than eight months and are being tried via Zoom without being brought to court and without lawyers,” mentioned Tal Steiner, director of the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel.
Steiner’s group knew of three camps the place detainees have been shackled 24 hours a day in open cages.
“We believe in the law to help change these violations, so we have filed a petition,” mentioned Steiner.
The authorities has not issued a proper response.
A state lawyer instructed a supreme courtroom listening to in May, nonetheless, that there have been 2,000 Gazan detainees categorised as “unlawful combatants” underneath everlasting detention orders, which means they’ve been held for over 45 days.
Hundreds are awaiting indictment, the lawyer added, whereas greater than 1,500 have been launched and returned to Gaza.
Source: www.anews.com.tr