UN rapporteur slams Israel’s systematic use of torture against Palestinian prisoners

UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine Francesca Albanese has stated that Israel systematically uses torture against Palestinian detainees in its detention centers and against the wider Palestinian population across the occupied territories.

In a report prepared for the 61st session of the UN Human Rights Council, Albanese said on Saturday that torture is not confined to prisons or interrogation rooms.

The report emphasizes that Palestinians are also subjected to torture through mass displacement, sieges, restrictions on humanitarian aid and food, military violence, and attacks by Israeli forces.

It further argues that the systematic torture of an entire population can serve both as a means of domination and as evidence of genocidal intent under the Genocide Convention.

The report states that Israeli authorities have deliberately created an environment designed to break Palestinian resistance, dignity, and determination across the occupied territories.

Titled “Torture and Genocide,” the report examines the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories. It focuses on Israel’s treatment of Palestinians since 1967, with particular attention to the period since October 7, 2023, when the Tel Aviv regime launched its genocidal war against the besieged Gaza Strip.

According to the report, torture has long been a central element of Israel’s dispossession of Palestinians.

Israel has employed torture on a scale that indicates collective revenge and destructive intent.

The sharp rise in torture inside Israeli detention facilities reflects a coordinated policy.

The report also references hawkish far-right Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who ordered Palestinian prisoners labeled as “terrorists” to be kept handcuffed in dark cells and continuously exposed to the Israeli anthem.

Albanese’s remarks came after a New York Times investigation revealed that torture and sexual violence against Palestinian prisoners have become systematic in Israeli custody.

The New York Times investigation, published on May 11, detailed allegations that Israeli soldiers, settlers, and prison guards subjected Palestinian detainees to rape, sexual abuse of children, physical torture, degrading treatment, and other forms of mistreatment.

On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Tel Aviv would sue the US newspaper over the allegations in its report.

Nearly 73,000 Palestinians have been killed across the blockaded Palestinian territories.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk