Ruptured bowel, broken rib: Lifelong effects of rape in Israeli prison

"Knesset having a normal one today," said a Twitter user. A short video had been circulating on social media of Israeli lawmakers making mockery of basic human rights.

The video shows a conversation in the Israeli parliament where Ahmad Tibi, one of its Palestinian member, asks, "Is it legitimate to insert a stick into a person's rectum?" and another one, Likud's Hanoch Milwidsky fires back, "Shut up! Yes, if he is a Nukhba (Qassam Brigades), everything is legitimate."

A few days back, nine Israeli soldiers were detained for gang rape of a Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman prison. Among them was a major, the commander of Force 100, which is responsible for guarding detainees at the facility.

The detention centre at the Sde Teiman military base, located in the Negev Desert, was set up after October 7 to detain Palestinians from Gaza without any charge, legal representation or due court process.

In May, whistleblowers from inside the base told CNN that they witnessed systemic physical and psychological abuse of Palestinian detainees at the facility.

People liken Sde Teiman to the US’s Guantanamo or Abu Ghraib prisons, known for horrific torture against detainees, some of whom are held without trial.

Under Israeli legislation, detainees at Sde Teiman can be held for up to 75 days without judicial authorization and up to 90 days without legal representation or a trial.

Upon the detention of the nine soldiers for questioning, large crowds of Israelis gathered outside the Sde Teiman compound, attempting to scale the fence while chanting, "We will not abandon our friends, certainly not for terrorists.”

Meanwhile, the Israeli Knesset debated the legitimacy of using rape as a form of torture against Palestinian detainees.

Experts find this case particularly alarming not only due to the brutality of the crime but also because the Israeli government appears to be deliberately dehumanising Palestinians to justify their abuse.

An extreme case

This was not the first time a Palestinian detainee has been reported to be tortured, raped, and sexually assaulted in Israeli prisons. However, it caused unease within Israel because the perpetrators were to be questioned.

Karen Hampanda, a lecturer at the Colorado School of Public Health, believes that the alarm raised by a doctor likely prompted the investigation this time.

Hampanda says this incident appears to be particularly extreme among similar torture cases. She believes the strong reaction to it is because Israeli authorities have long been shielded from any consequences for their crimes against humanity.

“It is possible that the abusers were fearful that the victim could die due to the extreme trauma and injuries he incurred, which could lead to an investigation of their treatment of prisoners, which is why they brought him to see a doctor,” she tells TRT World.

Dr Yoel Donchin, a doctor at Sde Teiman’s field hospital, spoke to Haaretz, expressing shock at the victim's condition. Haaretz reported that the Palestinian detainee was taken to the hospital with “a ruptured bowel, a severe injury to his anus, lung damage, and broken ribs.”

He was hospitalised with injuries to his anus severely that he was unable to walk, according to the doctor’s account.

Donchin said that after seeing the detainee, he "couldn't believe an Israeli prison guard could do such a thing," and thought that it was a case of one detainee assaulting another.

Lifelong traumas

Hundreds of protesters, including ministers and far-right MPs from Israel's governing coalition, stormed the Sde Teiman base's gate after the arrest of the reservists for the assault on the detainee.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far-right national security minister, came out in full support of arrested soldiers, saying their detention is “nothing less than shameful.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's allies including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Member of Knesset Yitzhak Kroizer also criticised the arrests, urging the military police that detained the soldiers to "keep your hands off our soldiers."

Another far-right MP Simcha Rotman called the troops “heroic fighters.”

Nuclear medicine professor Siroos Mirzaei, who treats patients from around the world at the Vienna treatment center for survivors of torture, including anal torture with unknown objects and electrical stimuli, draws parallels between these cases he handled over the years and that of the Palestinian detainee.

For instances of such kinds of rape, involving various objects used to inflict both physical pain and shame, the average duration for a full recovery to return to normal life is approximately two years, he says.

"Anal torture resulting in ruptures and severe injuries is extremely painful for the patient,” he tells TRT World.

“While physical healing may take several weeks after the injuries are treated, recovery is contingent on whether the sphincter function of the anal area is also damaged. If the sphincter is impaired, the patient may suffer from lifelong incontinence.”

Dr Mirzaei also notes that psychological treatment is often the most challenging and time-consuming aspect of recovery and typically takes longer than physical treatment.

He explains that this form of torture, particularly when inflicted on male victims, exploits cultural taboos and leads to profound psychological trauma, advising that it is crucial for such victims to speak with professional psychotherapists, as many are reluctant to disclose their experiences in prison.

“When a patient returns from prison and refuses to discuss their conditions, it signals that they have endured something extraordinarily severe which requires immediate attention.”

Hampanda adds that sexual violence against men during conflicts is employed not only to torture individuals from the opposing side but also to instill fear and undermine family and community cohesion.