UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine Francesca Albanese said on Saturday that Israel uses torture against Palestinian detainees in Israeli detention centres and against the wider Palestinian population in the occupied territories.
Her remarks came after a New York Times investigation by Nicholas Kristof said that torture and sexual violence against Palestinian prisoners had become systematic in Israeli custody.
Albanese shared her report Torture and Genocide, which was prepared for the 61st session of the UN Human Rights Council.
The report examined the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories since 1967 and focuses on Israel’s treatment of Palestinians since Oct. 7, 2023.
According to the report, torture has long been a central part of Israel’s dispossession of Palestinians. It says that since October 2023, Israel has used torture on a scale that suggests collective revenge and destructive intent and that the rise in torture inside Israeli detention facilities reflects a coordinated policy.
The report also refers to Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, saying he ordered Palestinian prisoners labeled as terrorists to be kept handcuffed in dark cells and exposed continuously to the Israeli national anthem.
Albanese’s report argued that torture is not limited to prisons or interrogation rooms.
It said Palestinians are also subjected to torture through mass displacement, siege, restrictions on humanitarian aid and food, military violence, and attacks by Israeli occupiers.
The report stated that Israeli authorities have created an environment intended to break Palestinian resistance, dignity, and determination across the occupied territories.
It also argued that systematic torture of an entire population can serve both as a means of domination and as evidence of genocidal intent under the Genocide Convention.
The New York Times investigation, published on May 11, included allegations that Israeli soldiers, occupiers, and prison guards subjected Palestinian detainees to rape, sexual abuse of children, physical torture, degrading treatment, and other forms of mistreatment.
On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tel Aviv would sue The New York Times over the allegations in its report. – AA