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This is a summary of the first of a series of 10 reports, currently available online (a further two reports not currently available), presented to the UN Human rights commission, of testimonies from victims of sexual, reproductive and other forms of gender-based violence committed by the Israeli Security Forces and Israeli settlers. Chris Sidoti, Commissioner, UN Commission of Inquiry Palestine, East Jerusalem and Israel, listens to Miss Sahar Francis, a Human Rights Lawyer from Palestine who has been working with Palestinian prisoners for over 27yrs. I have provided this summary in order to make this information more accessible and I will be posting similar summaries on all the other available reports over the coming days.
In this report, Sahar starts by explaining that “practices related to the sexual assault or the rape or the physical attacks” on Palestinian prisoners and detainees are not new but it’s become a lot more widespread since 7th October 2023, Israeli authorities are failing to investigate them and, to date, no one has been held accountable.
Sahar explains that after Oct 7th there were “mass arrest campaigns” and people were forcibly disappeared. Lawyers were banned from meeting detainees but they did manag to speak to a small number of detainees who were subsequently released. These detainees describe being strip searched and subjected to violent sexual assaults… “the soldiers were attacking the detainees on the sensitive areas… in some cases the soldiers were holding the.. penis or other organs and pushing them or squeezing them… lots of threatening to be raped, lots of bad wording/cursing and humiliation for the detainees… almost all the detainees who were arrested from the Gaza strip were subjected to this naked strip search.” The “attacks, beatings, hitting and kicking” were a daily occurrence.
While being transferred to the detention centre, in their underwear, soldiers would attack the detainees with their hands, legs and weapons, including “hitting them in the sensitive areas with a taser.” While at the detention centre, some detainees would be handcuffed, forced to stand up against a wire fence in the yard and subjected to a body search. Detainees describe how… “the police, or the soldier, would push the stick into the anus of the detainee… in some of the cases the detainees were bleeding or injured and without being treated after.”
Sahar explains that strip searches and the level of sexual violence escalated immediately after Oct 7th 2023 and she ascribes this to revenge attacks for alleged sexual assaults by Hamas, and the fact that there has been absolutely no accountability through Israeli courts. She explains that the abuse was most widespread at Sde Teiman [an Israeli military base and detention camp], where they would insert sticks into the anus of the detainees on a regular basis. She explains that 62 detainees have already died, either from torture or from neglect of subsequent health related issues… “when [the detainees] were naked the police were pushing them over each other so they were falling on the ground on top of each other, and in some cases they were cursing, shouting, humiliating and mocking them… or using a [stick] to hit the detainee on the sensitive areas or pushing the [stick] between the legs while doing the strip search… some detainees also reported.. Soldiers forcing them to put these sticks in their mouths… [and] one of the soldiers take plastic gloves and blow them up, so you have the fingers and then he would put one of the fingers in the mouth of the detainee and request him to [perform a sexual act]”
Sahar makes it clear that women, children and the elderly have also been subjected to sexual acts, torture, degrading treatment and physical abuse and that there are documented cases of young boys being strip searched and having sticks inserted into their anus. She explains that rape cases rarely get to court in Israel and when they do the charge sheet will have been doctored to reflect a lesser charge, such as a “serious physical attack.” In fact, a charge sheet will never mention that it was a rape or sexual assault.
Sidoti and Sahar then discuss whether Itamar Ben-Gvir (Israel’s Minister of National Security who is also responsible for the prison service), has had any influence over what is happening inside the prisons. Sahar explains that Ben-Gvir actually approved a system of punishment for prisoners, immediately after being appointed Minister of National Security, so this happened long before 7th October. Punishment included starvation, physical attacks, cancelling family visits, confiscating clothes and belongings and being locked up for 23hrs a day. The new policy also banned the Red Cross Committee from visiting and monitoring conditions inside the prisons. Additionally, in the first couple of months of Ben-Gvir’s appointment, they also cut water and electricity.
Sahar notes however that the most significant rise in sexual abuse cases was documented against Palestinian men. She believes this was a deliberate tactic, used to emasculate Palestinian men and diminish their standing in their communities as family providers and protectors. A lot of the men refused to talk about their experiences for this reason but from the numerous testimonies that she was able to gather, it was very clear to her that the practice was so widespread that most detainees would have been violated in some way.
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Spotlight is 100% independent. Our content is free for all to read and share and its advert free. If you appreciate this content then please consider supporting Spotlight by subscribing. You can take out a monthly subscription for as little as £1 a month and your support is gratefully appreciated.
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