UN says jailed Palestinians abused, blindfolded, fed alcohol by Israel

The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has released a searing report, revealing that thousands of Palestinians have endured egregious conditions in Israeli prisons and torture facilities since October 2023.

The report paints a nightmarish picture of abuse, shedding light on the severe human rights violations that abducted Palestinian detainees have faced under brutal Israeli custody.

The OHCHR's thematic report, Detention in the Context of the Escalation of Hostilities in Gaza (October 2023 - June 2024), provides a chilling account of the inhumane treatment meted out to detainees.

Released prisoners have recounted harrowing experiences of confinement in cage-like cells, enduring nakedness for extended periods, and suffering from extreme physical abuse.

One interviewee shared the following account with OHCHR: "[M]y hands were tied with handcuffs and I was kept blindfolded all the 55 days I stayed in this detention, you could imagine how difficult it will be to eat sleep or even move, the amount of pain I felt in my hands and back was unbearable...throughout this period I had no shower".

Witnesses have described being blindfolded for prolonged stretches, subjected to deprivation of food, water, and sleep, and enduring brutal torture methods, including electric shocks and cigarette burns.

Disturbingly, reports include the use of attack dogs and the suspension of detainees from ceilings while their hands were bound.

Accounts of sexual and gender-based violence against both men and women further underscore the severity of these abuses.

According to a testimony by a young detainee, "I felt like I was broken from the inside as they took us back to our cell. We were in the room in a state of shock, tears falling from our eyes without a sound. No one was talking to each other. None of us wanted to look at each other."

Legal violations and transparency issues

The report highlights a distressing pattern of incommunicado detention, with many detainees held in secret locations, completely cut off from their families. Some were deliberately humiliated in front of their families.

A Palestinian man detained in Ketziot described how he was frequently beaten in front of his son, who was also detained, and was given pure alcohol when he asked for water to take his medicine "they wanted to humiliate me and cause us more psychological pain", he said.

"Some detainees said dogs were released on them, and others said they were subjected to waterboarding, or that their hands were tied and they were suspended from the ceiling," the report added.

According to the OHCHR, many detentions lack clear legal justification, and detainees have been denied access to legal representation and fair trials.

Israeli authorities have been accused of using administrative detention and mass arrests as tools for intelligence gathering and political suppression.

International outcry

The damning report has sparked an international outcry, underscoring the urgent need for accountability and reform.

The suspension of access to detainees by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has further exacerbated concerns about the transparency and legality of detention practices.

In New York, when asked at a news briefing about UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ reaction to the report, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said: "Our reaction is one of shock and one of horror in seeing these reports," adding that it’s "critical that there be accountability for those responsible."