Report: Israeli occupation tortures most Palestinian prisoners

More than 95 per cent of the Palestinian prisoners jailed by Israel have been exposed to torture from the first moment they were seized, according to a report released on Wednesday.

The Palestinian Prisoners Club (PPC) issued the report to mark the 65th anniversary of the International Declaration of Human Rights. The report documents Israeli aggressions against Palestinian prisoners that violate nearly all international human rights conventions.

According to the PPC report, the Israeli occupation practices all kinds of torture against Palestinian prisoners, who are detained in 26 prisons spread across Israel. The report finds that these Israeli prisons do not offer Palestinian prisoners even the most basic demands of human life.

Since the occupation of Palestine began in 1948, more than 800,000 Palestinians have been imprisoned. Today, around 5,000 Palestinian prisoners are being held in Israel prisons, including 200 minors and 15 women, and “more than 95 per cent of these prisoners have been exposed to torture since they were arrested,” the report concludes.

In 2013, four Palestinian prisoners died: three inside prisons and one only a few days after his release because he had not received proper healthcare while in prison.

Israeli prison services sweep prisoners’ rooms and tents at least once a week, confiscating prisoners’ properties and sometimes even suspending their water supplies.

The number of ill prisoners inside jails is around 1,400, including 150 who are suffering from serious illnesses. These severely ill prisoners are treated in the clinic of Al-Ramla Prison, which several human rights reports have described as a “slaughterhouse”.

In addition, the report finds that there are 165 administrative prisoners who are being detained without charges for indefinite periods. “They are detained for no reason,” the report says.

Regarding those prisoners who have been detained for longer periods, the report notes that there are 53 prisoners who have been in prison since before 1993, when the Oslo Accords were signed between the Israeli occupation and the Palestine Liberation Organisation.

At the end of the report, the PPC strongly urges the international community to hold the Israeli occupation accountable for its ongoing crimes carried out against Palestinian prisoners.