The footage from the surveillance cameras shows a grainy, blurry image. A group of masked soldiers stand with their backs against a wall, hidden behind their shields. Behind them are people who are moving. One of the soldiers is holding a guard dog on a leash. According to the Israeli TV channel Keshet 12, the video shows Israeli soldiers sexually assaulting a Palestinian detainee. The alleged action takes place behind the shields, hidden from the surveillance cameras. The video is said to be from the Israeli military base and detention camp Sde Teiman, which has been called “Israel’s Guantanamo”. The military base is located in the Negev desert in the far south of Israel. – It is a disturbing video. It is very difficult to see things we have heard and read about for so long so clearly in a video, says Guy Shalev to news. He is a leader in the human rights group Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI). Guy Shalev, head of Physicians for Human Rights, asks the authorities in Israel to follow the laws of war. Photo: Ksenia Novikova / news The Palestinian man, who is said to have been subjected to the abuse, was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries. He had visible injuries on his upper body and in his anus, according to Physicians for Human Rights, which has been close to the case. Because the prisoner had to go to a civilian hospital, an investigation was started. Nine reserve soldiers, who worked as prison guards at Sde Teiman, were arrested by Israeli military police a little over a week ago. Several hundred Israelis tried to force their way into the military base to defend the soldiers. The US calls for an investigation A spokesman for the US State Department confirms that they have seen the video and demands that the Israeli military and the Israeli government investigate the incident. The UN does the same. Guy Shalev tells news that they know of at least 10 other similar cases from Sde Teiman. – This case is not unique. The unique thing is that this case received attention in Israel and internationally. Because this person was so badly mistreated that he had to go to a civilian hospital, and the information about what had happened to him got out, says Shalev. Physicians for Human Rights believes that abuses against Palestinian prisoners occur in all types of Israeli prisons. A month ago, the human rights group reported a similar case, but so far the report has been met with silence from the authorities. The IDF’s top military lawyer is said to have confirmed to a committee in the Israeli national assembly, the Knesset, that they are investigating 74 possible cases of abuse in Sde Teiman. The Jerusalem Post writes that. Sde Teiman is located around 30 kilometers from the Gaza Strip. Israel rejects the claims The Israeli Defense Force denies to news that its soldiers commit abuse, including sexual abuse, against Palestinian prisoners in prisons or detention camps. – The IDF operates in accordance with international and Israeli law and safeguards the rights of prisoners who are detained in our facilities. Any abuse of prisoners, whether during arrest or interrogation, is illegal and against IDF guidelines. – The IDF takes such actions seriously and thoroughly reviews any allegation of abuse, they write in a response to news. They further state that they have a number of monitoring mechanisms to ensure that illegal processing does not take place, and that they have clear procedures that are followed in the event of suspected criminal offences. Read the full response from the IDF here The IDF operates in accordance with international and Israeli law and safeguards the rights of the detainees in its facilities. Any abuse of prisoners, whether during arrest or interrogation, is illegal and against IDF guidelines, and is strictly prohibited. The IDF takes such actions seriously and thoroughly reviews any allegation of abuse. The IDF categorically rejects allegations of systematic abuse, including sexual abuse, in detention facilities. Remand prisoners receive three meals a day, their personal hygiene is taken care of, regular showers, clean clothes and satisfactory medical treatment. The IDF has various monitoring mechanisms to ensure that the detention facilities are run in accordance with IDF instructions and the law, including inspections by outside senior officers, continuous television monitoring, regular reviews by the IDF’s Operations Directorate, and oversight by camp commanders. Complaints about unacceptable or inadequate detention conditions are forwarded to the appropriate IDF bodies and followed up in accordance with current instructions. Disciplinary measures are taken against camp staff if necessary, and a criminal investigation is started when there is reasonable suspicion that a criminal offense may have been committed. In an e-mail to news, the Israeli embassy writes that “Israel does not have immunity from the law”. – Not even against the monster terrorists who carried out the massacre on 7 October, they write before continuing: – This is the reason why the military police have made arrests among suspected criminals, and that they are now on trial. Israeli soldiers at the Sde Teiman base on July 29. Photo: Tsafrir Abayov / AP “Welcome to Hell” This week, the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem published a report entitled: “Welcome to Hell: The Israeli prison system as a network of torture camps.” The report is based on the testimonies of 55 Palestinians who have been held in Israeli prisons. Most were released without charge. They tell of systematic abuse. That they were subjected to physical and psychological torture and denied food and medicine. The report claims that Israeli prisons have been transformed into a form of torture camp. At the end of July, the UN also published a report accusing Israel of torture and sexual abuse of Palestinian prisoners. In April, a doctor at the field hospital in Sde Teiman sent a warning letter to Israel’s health minister about the treatment of the Palestinian prisoners in the camp. Claims it is “self-inflicted injuries” The Israeli newspaper Ynet writes that a medical professor, in a report to the military court that is handling the appeal from the five soldiers who are still in custody, claims the injuries to the Palestinian prisoner appear to be “self-inflicted”. The professor, who bases his report on the prisoner’s medical record, believes the prisoner had no injuries that would indicate sexual abuse when he arrived at the hospital. Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir ordered harsher treatment of Palestinian prisoners after the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October. Photo: Ammar Awad / Reuters Minister defends prisoner treatment When the arrests at the Sde Teiman base became known, Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir described the arrested soldiers as “heroes”. The controversial minister leads a right-wing nationalist party and comes from the radical settler movement. After the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, in which over 1,000 Israelis were killed, he ordered harsher treatment of Palestinian prisoners. – They are now being treated as they should be treated, Ben-Gvir said on Israeli television. The change in prisoner treatment was confirmed by a spokesperson for the Israeli prison service to the Reuters news agency. – Something or other has broken a bit – I don’t think it has been that bad before, says Bjørn Gunnar Saltnes to news. For many years he has worked as a human rights observer in the Palestinian West Bank and is a board member of PIM – The Campaign for Palestinian Children in Israeli Military Prisons. Saltnes says, like Guy Shalev, that hints have previously been heard that Palestinian prisoners are subjected to sexual abuse. But the topic is taboo, and the documentation has been sparse. – Something or other has broken in Israeli society, he believes. Partially undressed Palestinian prisoners sat huddled together, blindfolded, on a loading dock in Gaza last December. Photo: Moti Milrod / AP Worse after 7 October The experienced human rights observer says that Palestinians are being dehumanized in Israeli society. They are referred to as “terrorists”, or “possible terrorists”. This also characterizes the Israeli military, the IDF. – My impression is that after 7 October things have gone completely off the rails. There is a dynamic in this which means that they have unleashed the “madness” on a different level than what they have done before, says Saltnes. On the one hand, it is about the collective trauma from the persecution of Jews, which characterizes the whole of Israeli society, Saltnes believes. On the other hand, it is pushed forward politically by Israel’s leaders, who want to take control of Palestinian territory. Interested in foreign affairs? Listen to the foreign affairs editor’s podcast: Published 11.08.2024, at 22.38
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Video will show Israeli soldiers committing sexual assaults – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
