Palestinian hostages bodies reveal that Israel turns prisons into graveyards of torture

With the implementation of the third phase of the ‘Flood of the Free’ deal, a new group of prisoners from the Gaza Strip regained their freedom after many years of detention in Israeli occupation prisons.

However, the freedom they had eagerly awaited did not come as they had hoped; most of them emerged with exhausted bodies, amputated limbs, chronic illnesses, and deep scars that bear witness to the cruelty of the torture and ill-treatment they were subjected to, especially during the last months prior to their release.

This report documents the most serious violations committed by the occupation authorities against the released prisoners and analyses them in light of international humanitarian law and international human rights law as war crimes and crimes against humanity that are not subject to a statute of limitations.

This report reviews the conditions in which prisoners lived in Israeli prisons, as revealed by a number of those who were released from prison a few days ago.

Occupation practices against Gaza prisoners prior to release

Based on the testimonies of released prisoners, the Israeli prison administration’s treatment during the period prior to their release was characterised by the following patterns.

Continuous physical torture:

• Prisoners were severely beaten for days on end, especially during the last four days before their release, which was described as a ‘farewell gift.’
• Sharp instruments and rifle butts were used in the assaults, with deliberate focus on old injuries.
• Torture with electric shocks, prolonged shackling, and forcing prisoners into painful physical positions.

Psychological humiliation and threats:

• Threatening prisoners with the killing of their children or the demolition of their homes in Gaza.
• Spreading false news about the martyrdom of their families in order to break them psychologically.
• Depriving them of communication with the outside world and the most basic elements of human dignity.

Inhumane conditions of detention:

• Prisoners describe the cells as ‘silent graves’: cramped, dark, lacking ventilation and blankets.
• Severe shortage of food, water and personal hygiene items.
• Blankets are only allowed for four hours a day, with prisoners sleeping on the cold floor the rest of the time.
• Skin diseases such as scabies are widespread as a result of deliberate neglect of health.

Systematic medical neglect

• A number of prisoners have died due to being denied treatment.
• Leaving the wounded without medical care and even assaulting their injuries during torture.
• Amputation of limbs and permanent disabilities among some of those released as a result of this neglect.

Testimonies from released prisoners

A number of prisoners detailed their experiences in Israel’s prisons. Naji al-Jaafari said:

What I experienced in captivity can only be described as a slow death… starvation, torture, isolation, humiliation… every day felt like a whole year.

Abdul Hamid Alian said:

We slept on iron beds without mattresses, blindfolded all day long, unable to see the light and hearing nothing but screams.

Mahmoud Abu Salah said:

They tied us up at 3 a.m. and threatened to kill my children… Dogs slept on top of us all night long.

Mansour Atef Rayan said:

They forced prisoners to beat each other with their shoes, and those who refused were subjected to group beatings and electric shocks.

Additional testimonies show that some prisoners entered prison on their own two feet and left in wheelchairs as a result of torture and amputation, while others discovered that they had lost their entire families during the war on Gaza, facing a double tragedy of pain and loss.

Clear signs of torture

Dr. Mohammed Abu Salmiya, director general of Al-Shifa Medical Complex, said that the released prisoners who arrived at the complex clearly showed signs of torture and ill-treatment, noting that some of them had lost limbs, while others suffered from chronic injuries for which they had received no treatment during their detention.

For its part, the International Solidarity Foundation with Palestinian Prisoners (Tadamon) confirmed that the widespread images of the released prisoners constitute compelling visual evidence of the scale of the grave and systematic violations that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity according to the Geneva Conventions.

The Prisoners’ Media Office explained that what is happening inside prisons constitutes a slow genocide against Palestinian prisoners, carried out away from the eyes of the media and international organisations, under a systematic blackout aimed at concealing crimes and preventing access by international observers and investigators.

The office called on the international community to take urgent action to release all prisoners, especially the sick, those who are older, those held in administrative detention and those forcibly disappeared, considering their continued detention a direct threat to their lives and a flagrant violation of all humanitarian rules.

It also called on the United Nations, the Human Rights Council and the International Committee of the Red Cross to send fact-finding committees to investigate and document these violations as a policy of systematic torture.

Featured image via the Canary