UN human rights committee releases shocking report accusing Israel of systematic torture and cruel treatment of Palestinian detainees, highlighting egregious abuses over the past two years.
Independent Report
The United Nations Committee Against Torture (CAT) released a study that cites The Guardian, warning of repeated incidents of severe beatings, dog attacks, electric shocks, immersion, and sexual violence carried out by Israeli forces against Palestinian prisoners.
The inquiry, conducted by ten independent experts over a two‑year period, concludes that Israel is effectively pursuing a policy of organized and widespread torture.
Shocking Practices
The report highlights the broad use of Israeli law to justify the detention of thousands of Palestinians, including women and children, without trial under administrative arrest.
By September, nearly 3,500 Palestinians were held in administrative detention; cases describe humiliating treatment such as forcing prisoners to behave like animals or to urinate on themselves, denial of medical care, and excessive coercive tactics that could lead to amputations.
Children and Palestinians
The CAT notes a high proportion of minors held without charges or under temporary arrest, noting that Israel’s criminal age of responsibility is 12 years, yet children below this age were detained.
Some juveniles were sent to isolation cells where contact with family and access to education were severely restricted; during the ongoing Gaza war, conditions deteriorated sharply and an estimated 75 Palestinian inmates are believed to have died in prison, a figure the commission calls unnaturally high and almost exclusive to the Palestinian population.
No state official has yet been held accountable for these incidents, and the Israeli government repeatedly denies the use of torture.
Only One Identified Case
Over two years, Israel recorded a single conviction for torture or mistreatment of a detainee—a soldier repeatedly beat a Gaza prisoner, blind‑folded and bound, with fists, a bat, and other weapons.
The court sentence of seven months was judged by the report authors to be insufficient for the gravity of the offense.
The Guardian published the report on the same day that three Israeli border guard officers were dismissed following an investigation into a fatal shooting in Jenin; a video shows the officers seizing detainees, one kicking them before making a gesture that appears to signal a return to the building, after which shots were fired; the officers later claimed an immediate threat to life and were released on the condition they would not discuss the incident.
