NGO calls on international community to hold Israel to account for systematic torture of Palestinians
shahennews
The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH) called today upon the international community to meet its obligations under international law and universal jurisdiction to hold Israel accountable for its systematic torture of Palestinian detainees.
In a report marking the International Day in Support of the Victims of Torture, MIFTAH said, “Despite the absolute prohibition of torture and ill-treatment under international law, Israeli occupation forces and prison authorities employ various torture and ill-treatment techniques against almost all Palestinian political prisoners and detainees, including women and children, leaving grave physical and psychological damage.”
The report named various forms of torture and ill-treatment used by the Israeli prison authorities against Palestinian political prisoners and detainees, such as prolonged stress positions, beatings, solitary confinement, sleep deprivation, deliberate medical negligence, physical and verbal sexual abuse, force-feeding, humiliation, threat on family members etc…
“Israel also extensively uses administrative detention to detain hundreds of Palestinians for indefinite periods of time with no charge or trial based on “secret charges”, something Palestinian human rights organization Addameer has identified as a cruel form of psychological torture,” added the report.
Since the beginning of its illegal occupation in 1967, Israel has detained over 1 million Palestinians. This policy of mass arbitrary arrest, the group added, is one of the tools that aim at maintaining Israel’s illegal occupation and apartheid regime.
As of today, there are 4,700 political prisoners in Israeli jails, including 640 administrative detainees, 32 women and 170 children.
“Israeli prison authorities, occupation forces and interrogators feel emboldened to commit such acts of torture with full impunity knowing that neither the complicit Israeli legal system nor the international community will hold them accountable,” the report continued.
MIFTAH calls on the international community to support the investigation by the International Criminal Court into the Situation in Palestine, including the crime of torture, and to hold Israel to account for systematic torture of Palestinians.
M.N
