“We were turned into prey for these monsters, who enjoyed our hunger, thirst, screams and illnesses. We still do not believe that we are still alive.”
Palestinian detainees held at the Ofer prison in Israel have told their lawyer that they were severely beaten and tortured, and in disbelief that they are still alive.
“We have been exposed to actual fascism, as we were stripped of our clothes, intensively beaten, tortured and assaulted. They shackled our hands and feet, and blindfolded our eyes,” detainees who spoke to the legal representative of the Commission of Detainees Affairs said.
The lawyer visited the prison last week and documented testimony from Mohammad Jamous, 44, detained since last March, the administrative detainee Fadi Ayyad,39, and Fadi Hqaidi, 38.
“We were turned into prey for these monsters, who enjoyed our hunger, thirst, screams and illnesses. We still do not believe that we are still alive,“ they said, adding that this is the experience “of all Gaza detainees” who were imprisoned after October 7.
‘Broke Our Hands and Feet’ – Freed Gaza Detainees Recount Torture in Israeli Prison
The “journey of death” began immediately upon their arrest, the detainees related, transported “in military vehicles, in which they humiliate and deny our humanity with torture and assault, arriving at prison, where we wished to die for what we have seen of the soldiers’ hatred.”
“They abuse us through different methods, broke our bones and left us bleeding from the head and all body parts,” they continued. “They transferred us to hospitals, in which a new series of murders began, to the extent that we could not comprehend what was happening.”
Since their detention, they “spent most of the time sitting on our feet or lying on the stomach.”
Faintings Due to Beatings
“We don’t have the right to express our pain regardless of the torture we are subjected to. They used dogs to terrify and attack us, in addition to pepper spray and tear gas that were sprayed in our rooms without any reason.”
They said the “majority of Gaza detainees have fainted several times due to intense beatings.”
‘Horrific Conditions’ – Two Detainees Confirmed Dead Due to Torture in Israeli Prisons
“We witnessed the martyrdom of many detainees, such as detainee Islam al-Sarsawi, who died due to beatings and torture”. Al-Sarsawi, 42, a policeman from the Al-Shejaiya neighborhood in Gaza City, was detained along with dozens of other Palestinians, during a raid on the Al-Shifa Hospital, the Palestinian Prisoners Society and the Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Affairs Commission said in a statement on Friday. They confirmed he “was subjected to torture.”
The detainees said they are “sick, our bodies are exhausted, we have become victims of diseases, injuries and torture.”
They do not receive any treatment or medicine, but “despite the miserable conditions, we still have hope to return alive to our families.”
UN Report
The United Nations released a 23-page report last week documenting allegations of torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, including sexual abuse of women and men.
It is based primarily on information gathered through interviews with released detainees and other victims and witnesses of violations, as well as human rights and UN organizations.
The report said detainees include “men, women, children, doctors, journalists, (and) human rights defenders” most of whom have been arrested “without charges or trial and in conditions that raise concerns of the abuse of administrative detention.”
‘Palestinian Detainees Held in Prolonged, Secret Detention, Tortured and Abused’ – UN Report
It also stated that “at least 53 detainees from Gaza and the West Bank have died in Israeli detention” since October 7.
The UN report also documented “the forced nudity of both men and women; beatings while naked, including on the genitals; electrocution of the genitals and anus; being forced to undergo repeated humiliating strip searches; widespread sexual slurs and threats of rape; and the inappropriate touching of women by both male and female soldiers.”
Systematic Abuses
In the past months, Israel has released dozens of detainees, who have confirmed in their testimonies that they were subjected to abuse, torture and harsh interrogation.
An investigation by The New York Times in June confirmed that Israel was carrying out a policy of systematic torture at the Sde Teiman detention camp.
At the same, the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor issued a report documenting testimonies from released Gaza detainees who detailed the abuse and torture.
One detainee spoke of being “beaten and subjected to electric shocks” because he “refused to be injected” with an unknown substance.
In May, CNN reported that three Israeli whistleblowers working at the Sde Teiman detention camp revealed systemic abuses by the military, including prisoners being restrained, blindfolded, and forced to wear diapers.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
Einsatzgruppen, middle eastern style. They were really popular too around the Black Sea area when they had their ‘tribe’ in full criminal mode over a thousand years ago.
Russians and Persians sorted them out. Settlement of Pale’, and all that. It’s gonna happen again soon, they’re howling for it, same Sherriff’s too.