Accounts of sexual abuse in Israeli detention are not isolated incidents: medical group says

Physicians for Human Rights in Israel (PHRI) said yesterday it has information about other cases of Palestinian prisoners who had been sexually assaulted by Israeli soldiers in the notorious Sde Teiman detention centre in the Negev desert in southern Israel, Anadolu reported.

PHRI said a victim of sexual violence was hospitalised three weeks ago and was in a life-threatening condition. He had injuries to the upper part of his body and a serious injury to the rectum.

The organisation indicated that “an investigation was opened, and the case was only disclosed because the victim was in the hospital outside Sde Teiman.”

It confirmed that it knows about other cases of sexual assault that have not been disclosed, either because the victims are afraid to complain to the Israeli authorities or because the authorities did not open an investigation.

“Mounting testimonies indicate these incidents are not isolated. They suggest systematic abuse and violence, and a blind eye to violations. The Sde Teiman torture facility must be shut down urgently, abuse across all prisons must end, and those responsible must be prosecuted,” it added in a tweet.

The arrest of soldiers suspected of severely sexually abusing a Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman facility follows months of PHRI raising alarms about widespread abuses of Palestinian detainees by Israel’s military and prison service.

— Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) (@PHRIsrael) July 29, 2024

It also expressed concern about the possibility of the victim being returned to Sde Teiman, after the end of the hospital care, where he was tortured.

On Monday, Israeli public broadcaster KAN revealed that a Palestinian detainee was gang-raped by Israeli soldiers at the Sde Teiman. The detainee was taken to a hospital with severe injuries to an intimate body part, which left him unable to walk.

Ten Israeli reservists were detained as a result. However, far-right members of Israel’s cabinet have called on authorities to “take your hands off our fighters” and labelled the reservists “heroes”, while some tried to storm the detention centre they were being held in in an effort to free them.

Currently, Israel’s Supreme Court is considering a petition filed by Israeli human rights organisations to close the Sde Teiman detention facility, where Palestinian detainees from Gaza are held. Many face torture and medical neglect.

In recent months, the army has released dozens of Palestinian detainees who bear signs of torture, malnutrition and exhaustion.

READ: Israel considers extending detention of 9 soldiers accused of assaulting Palestinian detainee