GAZA, (PIC)
The testimonies of the Palestinian prisoners who were recently released coincide with those who lived through the beginnings of the Palestinian revolution, that the prisons of the Israeli occupation witness the most horrific, brutal and sadistic forms of torture, beyond what the mind can comprehend. However, the testimonies of prisoners after October 7th are completely different from what the prisoners experienced before the start of the Israeli extermination war on Gaza.
One of the released prisoners from Gaza says that about 30 soldiers took turns beating him during a short time after his arrest in December last year.
The Palestinian Media Center documented the testimony of the released prisoner Zain Al-Din, who only identified himself by his first name, explaining that he spent 25 days in the occupation prisons without knowing where he was held.
The young man narrates that he was subjected to various forms of torture and deprivation, such as continuous shackling for a week, beating in different parts of his body, and deprivation of using the bathroom or getting water.
He says, “One time I asked one of the soldiers for water. The soldier asked me if I really needed water, and I told him I was thirsty, so he asked me to open my mouth and spit into it.”
Zain Al-Din lost 20 kg of his weight in prison, with poor health and broken bones, explaining that the prisoners are deprived of food for long periods, “they give us a piece of bread all day, with a small piece of cheese, barely enough for a small child, in addition to depriving us of sleep and bathing.”
The young man describes the days he spent in the detention center as “hell,” stressing that all imaginable torture methods were used against him and the other prisoners, from barbaric beating and cursing and forcing them to repeat insults against mothers and chastity, “and some jailers deliberately insult our religion and the Prophet Muhammad.”
Zain Al-Din summarizes his testimony about the occupation prisons by saying that “the one who enters them is lost, and the one who comes out of them is born anew, due to the horrors, violations and great injustice that the prisoners are subjected to, which the mountains cannot bear.”
Torture parties
According to testimonies published by the Prisoners’ Affairs Authority, most prisoners from the Gaza Strip have fainted multiple times during torture, while the so-called “torture parties” have become common in the prisons, where the Israeli jailers gather the prisoners in a certain yard and practice sadistic and horrific torture against them.
Three of the prisoners were visited by the Authority, and their lawyer reported their horrific testimonies, “We are subjected to a real fascist scenario, being stripped of clothes, beaten, tortured and humiliated, with hands and feet tied, and eyes blindfolded.”
The three prisoners added that they were turned into prey for these raging beasts, who delight in our hunger, thirst, screams, and illness, “to the point that we cannot believe we are still alive.”
The Authority continued reporting the prisoners’ testimonies, “The journey of death begins from the moment of arrest, passing through the transfer in military vehicles and trucks, until we reach the prisons, where we wished for death before we arrived, because of the hatred and madness we saw from soldiers, who abuse and torture us in an indescribable way.”
The three prisoners added, “Since our arrest, we have spent most of our time sitting on our feet or lying on our stomachs, and dogs were used to intimidate and assault us. We do not exaggerate when we say that most of the Gaza prisoners have lost consciousness several times due to the systematic torture.”
Brutal starvation and torture
The testimonies of prisoners from Gaza who were recently released by the occupation authorities were consistent with other released prisoners, who confirmed that they have been starved since last October 7th, “as the meals provided were of poor quality and with a limited number of utensils.”
They explained that the prisoners are deprived of water for 23 hours, and during one hour they have to fulfill all their water needs for drinking, ablution, and cleaning.
The prisoners pointed to the occupation forces’ use of multiple methods of shackling in different positions for long hours, the cruelest of which is the “banana” method, where the prisoners’ hands are tied to their legs behind their backs while they are seated on chairs, and they are forced to stand for long periods and relieve themselves while they are shackled.
Numerous human rights reports by the Prisoners’ Society and the Detainees’ Affairs Authority have documented that prisoners are subjected to severe medical neglect and deprivation of medical care, leading to the spread of skin diseases, and the unleashing of hungry police dogs on prisoners to maul them.
The reports indicate that the results of the brutal torture have caused the death of dozens of prisoners, the amputation of limbs of others, and the loss of memory for some. They note that the released prisoners left with exhausted bodies and a terrifying weight loss of up to 40 kilograms in 6 months.
“Welcome to hell”
“Welcome to hell,” is the title of an extensive report published by the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem, which is the phrase one soldier used to greet a group of Gaza prisoners, confirming that prisons have been transformed into networks of systematic torture.
The report details the torture methods used by Israeli jailers in prisons, such as: pepper gas, sound grenades, wooden and metal batons, stun guns, savage dogs, beating, punching, kicking, shackling, and blindfolding prisoners for hours, days, and weeks.
The torture also includes tying the hands and feet around the clock for long weeks, tightening them in a way that damages the limbs and leads to amputation, and forcing prisoners to bow their heads in a crouching position and sleep on their stomachs for very long periods.
The B’Tselem report mentioned other torture tools, including severe beatings with batons, military boots, and electric cables on various parts of the body, as well as beating prisoners on sensitive areas.
The human rights institution documented the exposure of prisoners to horrific torture methods, such as pulling the penis and testicles, beating with hammers on the back and testicles, as well as sexual assaults by inserting sticks or sharp tools into the anus, or even by police dogs.
The data of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society indicates the martyrdom of 23 prisoners from Gaza, whose identities were known, under torture in the Sde Teiman detention camp, confirming that the occupation hides the identities of dozens of Gaza detainees who were martyred in its prisons and camps.
While human rights and media reports consistently confirm that the occupation has killed 60 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip in its prisons as a result of torture, this appears to be a clear policy of revenge following the Al-Aqsa Flood operation carried out by the Palestinian resistance on October 7th last year.
The number of prisoners in Israeli prisons has surged to 9,900, other than the prisoners from Gaza that the occupation has recognized and classified as “unlawful combatants,” numbering 1,584, in addition to an unknown number in the army’s camps.
Legalization torture
According to human rights data published by the Al-Dameer Association, the occupation authorities have introduced amendments to the “Unlawful Combatant” law under which Gaza prisoners are detained.
The association confirms that there is a reasonable basis to allege that the occupation forces are committing war crimes and crimes against humanity against prisoners from the Gaza Strip, in partnership and collusion with the government, judges, prison administration authorities, and the occupation army and police.
Under the “Unlawful Combatants” law, Gaza prisoners are directly subject to the army and not the prison administration, and any contact with them through the Red Cross or lawyers is prohibited, and their names or detention conditions are not allowed to be disclosed.
The amended law allows the detention of any person without presenting them to any legal authority for up to 75 days from the start of detention, in addition to not allowing any legal consultation for a period of up to 6 months.
The occupation authorities have also made several amendments to the “Arrest Law of 1996” which allowed the extension of detention each time by 45 days for investigation purposes that may last up to 6 months, without any real judicial monitoring during this period over the practices of torture and degrading treatment.
Based on these amendments, the prison administration follows a policy of minimum interaction with security prisoners, by reducing their living space, depriving them of leaving their rooms, depriving them of exposure to sunlight, depriving them of changing clothes, depriving them of cutting their nails and beards, and preventing them from bathing.
The amendment to the law on prison administration systems for the state of emergency also allows the confiscation of all prisoners’ possessions, prohibition of prayer, confiscation of Qurans, punishment of rooms where the call to prayer is heard, withdrawal of blankets and bedding, as well as the application of the lock-down policy that includes closing prison rooms, total isolation, and closing prisons to visitors from families or representatives of the Red Cross or lawyers.
