Israeli soldiers indicted for brutal assault on Palestinian detainee at Sde Teiman

Five Israeli reserve soldiers have been charged with assault and severe abuse of a Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman military detention facility, the Times of Israel has reported. According to an indictment filed by the Military Advocate General’s Office, the soldiers violently attacked the detainee upon his arrival at Sde Teiman on 5 July 2024.

The Palestinian detainee, who was blindfolded and restrained with handcuffs and leg shackles, was beaten by the five accused with assistance from several other members of the Israeli riot control unit.

“For 15 minutes, the accused kicked the detainee, stomped on him, stood on his body, hit him and pushed him all over his body, including with clubs, dragged his body along the ground, and used a taser gun on him, including on his head,” alleges the indictment.

Moreover, during the assault, one of the Israeli soldiers stabbed the detainee near his anus with a sharp object, causing a tear in his rectal wall. An hour later, detention facility officials noticed that he was bleeding profusely and took him to a hospital.

The detainee suffered multiple traumatic injuries, including seven broken ribs, a punctured lung, a rectal tear and extensive wounds across his body. Due to the severity of his injuries, he required surgery on his large intestine and had a stoma fitted, which was removed three months later.

Earlier this month, an Israeli military court sentenced another reserve soldier to seven months in prison after he was convicted of “abusing and torturing” Palestinian prisoners at Sde Teiman.

While the Sde Teiman military camp has long been identified as a site of abuse, detainees report similar practices in other facilities, including Naqab and Ofer Prisons. Human rights group Amnesty International said last year that 27 released detainees it had interviewed consistently described being subjected to torture on at least one occasion during their arrest.

The NGO Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor issued a report last June documenting the Israeli army’s “systematic use” of police dogs to attack Palestinian civilians during military operations in the Gaza Strip. “The dogs are also used to intimidate, beat and sexually assault prisoners and detainees in Israeli detention facilities,” it added.

In July last year, ten Israeli reserve soldiers who worked as guards at the Sde Teiman detention camp were arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a Palestinian prisoner, which resulted in serious injuries.

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