‘Palestinian detainees urinated on’: UN report says Israel has ‘de facto state policy’ of torture
The committee also said Palestinian detainees had been forced to act like animals, urinated on, denied medical care and subjected to heavy restraints, “in some cases resulting in amputation”.
The report was released on the same day three Israeli border police officers were questioned and then released over the fatal shooting of two detained Palestinians in Jenin. (File Photo)
Israel has “a de facto state policy of organised and widespread torture”, according to a new UN report. The findings cover the past two years and warn of a lack of accountability for possible war crimes by Israeli security forces.
The UN committee on torture said it was “deeply concerned over allegations of repeated severe beatings, dog attacks, electrocution, waterboarding, use of prolonged stress positions and sexual violence”, the Guardian reported.
The committee also said Palestinian detainees had been forced to act like animals, urinated on, denied medical care and subjected to heavy restraints, “in some cases resulting in amputation”.
‘High number of children detained’
The panel of 10 independent experts raised alarm about Israel’s use of the unlawful combatants law, which allows lengthy detention without trial. According to the Israeli group B’Tselem, 3,474 Palestinians were held without trial at the end of September.
The report noted a “high proportion of children currently detained without charge or on remand”, adding that some children under 12 had been held. It said children classed as security prisoners faced strict limits on family contact, could be held in solitary confinement and had no access to education. The committee urged Israel to change its laws so that solitary confinement is not used on children.
“May amount to torture”
The UN committee said the daily impact of Israeli policies in the occupied Palestinian territories “may amount to torture”, the Guardian reported.
It recorded 75 Palestinian deaths in custody since the Gaza war began in October 2023 and said the number was “abnormally high”. No officials had been held responsible, the report added.
Israel has denied using torture. Representatives from the foreign ministry, justice ministry and prison service told the committee that conditions were monitored and adequate.
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But the committee said the inspector responsible for examining interrogation complaints had brought “no criminal prosecutions for acts of torture and ill-treatment” in the past two years.
The UN body noted that Israel had pointed to one conviction for torture or ill-treatment during that period: a soldier sentenced in February for attacking bound and blindfolded detainees from Gaza. The committee said the seven-month sentence “appears not to reflect the severity of the offence”.
“No obvious resistance” in Jenin shooting
The report was released on the same day three Israeli border police officers were questioned and then released over the fatal shooting of two detained Palestinians in Jenin.
Video from Thursday showed the two men – Youssef Asasa and Mahmoud Abdallah – crawling out of a building with their hands raised. The footage shows an officer kicking them and appearing to signal for them to go back inside. Seconds later, they were shot at close range.
Israeli media reported that the officers said they “felt an immediate and tangible threat”, claiming the men refused to strip and tried to return into the building.
However, the video, whose authenticity Israeli authorities have not disputed, shows no clear resistance. The officers were released on condition they do not discuss the case with others.
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The report was released on the same day three Israeli border police officers were questioned and then released over the fatal shooting of two detained Palestinians in Jenin. (File Photo) 
