Israel government says only 28 Palestinian detainees held at Sde Teiman desert prison amid High Court probe

Israel’s government has told the High Court that only 28 Palestinian detainees are being held at the infamous Sde Teiman desert torture camp, amid increasing controversy surrounding Israeli authorities’ atrocities and human rights violations against detainees.

In a letter submitted to Israel’s High Court this week, in response to a petition by rights organisations to the court regarding conditions at the desert detention centre, the Israeli government stated that it has been releasing from the camp detainees kidnapped from Gaza due to the lack of space to keep them in detention.

The document revealed the extent of funds that have been poured into the torture camp, putting the amount at approximately NIS 44 million ($11.6 million) for the purpose of renovating the site, allowing for the expansion of new prison facilities. The funds will also reportedly allow prisoners to walk outside.

It is reportedly a result of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s instructions to National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir – in coordination with the Ministry of Finance – to make a comprehensive proposal for the establishment of thousands of new prison spaces, as well as a budget and timetables for completion and implementation.

The government letter to the court further attempted to allay concerns of human rights violations, claiming that detainees at Sde Teiman prison are allowed to sleep for seven hours a night and that they are not deprived of any sleep. It also claimed that adequate food is provided to detainees in the form of three meals a day, with the quality and quantity being set by a qualified nutritionist. The detainees also “have access to drinking water at all times through water taps”, the government claimed.

READ: Gaza detainee tortured to death at Israel’s Sde Teiman facility

Those claims significantly contradict numerous reports throughout the months – many backed up by sources currently or previously within the camp – that Israeli forces and camp authorities regularly subject the Palestinian detainees to torture, starvation, sleep deprivation and physical, psychological and sexual abuse. Most recently, a leaked video from the facility revealed the gang rape of a Palestinian prisoner by Israeli personnel.

Israel’s Civil Rights Association, which initially submitted the petition on behalf of numerous human rights organisations, denied the government claims, stating that “Sde Teiman is hell, where human rights are systematically violated and horrific crimes are committed. These things are documented in countless testimonies, in the words of those who served there, in reports and journalistic investigations.”

Citing the fact that information about the human rights abuses are now well-known and widespread, the Association stated that “it is not without reason that the government emptied it almost completely after the petition was submitted”, referring to the release of most of the approximate 1,000 detainees who were held there after being kidnapped from Gaza by Israeli forces.

“However, after months of the government evading its response to the court’s decisions, it decided to invent an alternative reality in its answer, in which it admits that the prisoners are kept in cages, handcuffed and blindfolded all the time, sleeping on mattresses on the ground and receiving medical services in a special facility, but does not see it as a difficulty.”

It added that the “death of prisoners, amputation of organs, violence and abuse – all these have disappeared from the [government’s] answer, even though these days an investigation is being conducted. The government may think that the judges of the High Court are stupid. We don’t think so”.

READ: Torture, sexual violence against Palestinian detainees ‘war crimes’, Amnesty says