2023-12-20 21:50:00
© Amir Levy/Getty Images
Amnesty International is deeply concerned about the fate and whereabouts of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip occupied territory who have been detained by Israeli forces, while reports of mass enforced disappearances proliferate.
On December 16, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) declared that there were received “numerous disturbing reports” from northern Gaza “of collective detentions, ill-treatment and forced disappearances of possibly thousands of Palestinian people,” including minors.
Photos and video recordings verified by the Crisis Response Program Testing Laboratory from Amnesty International show the inhuman and degrading treatment inflicted by Israeli forces on people detained in Beit Lahia, a town in northern Gaza. The fate and whereabouts of many of these people are unknown.
Other Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, including workers or others with permission to enter Israel, also remain forcibly disappeared. Israeli authorities have confirmed the death in custody of at least six Palestiniansincluding two workers from Gaza, in October and November.
“We are investigating reports of mass enforced disappearances of Palestinians detained by Israeli forces. The Israeli army must urgently reveal the fate and whereabouts of all those it has detained since October 7, including Nidal al Waheidi and Haitham Abdelwahed, two journalists who have been forcibly disappeared for more than two years. months. Israeli forces must specify the reasons for the arrest of those detained, and make every effort to provide information to the families of those in custody, especially given the communications blockade that has separated Gazans from each other. and the rest of the world,” said Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“All detained persons must be treated humanely and must be guaranteed the right to a fair trial and due process. “All persons arbitrarily detained must be released.”
“All detained persons must be treated humanely and must be guaranteed the right to a fair trial and due process. All people arbitrarily detained must be released. Israel has an appalling record of impunity for human rights violations committed by its forces, underscoring the urgent need for an effective and independent investigation into all deaths in custody and reports of enforced disappearances, torture and other ills. “treatment of Palestinian people from Gaza.”
Nidal al-Wahidi y Haitham Abdelwahed, two journalists from the occupied Gaza Strip, were detained by Israeli forces on October 7 while reporting on the attacks launched by Hamas in Israel along the perimeter of the Gaza Strip. The last time they were seen they were at the Erez Pass, between the Gaza Strip and Israel. Since then, the Israeli authorities, specifically the army, police and prison services, have refused to reveal his whereabouts or the legal reasons for his detention, conduct that constitutes enforced disappearance.
The organisation’s concern about the fate of Gaza detainees is intensified by the sickening images and videos verified by Amnesty International’s Crisis Response Program Evidence Laboratory that have emerged in recent weeks showing to Palestinians who have been stripped of their clothes and forced to kneel on the ground, in their underwear and with their hands tied, while Israeli soldiers stand over them.
Amnesty International’s Crisis Response Program Testing Laboratory geolocated three Photos and a video posted on social media on December 7 showing dozens of men being detained by Israeli forces on the streets of Beit Lahia, a city in northern Gaza. The pictures They show the detainees in their underwear, some with probably identifying documents placed in front of them. One of these photos shows detainees being transported with their hands tied to another location, without being provided with clothing.
“These men were deprived of their dignity and dehumanized, in violation of international law. There is nothing that can justify the mockery or deliberate humiliation of detained persons. The right of detained persons not to be tortured or subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment is absolute and applies to everyone, regardless of whether or not they participate in hostilities. Torture, inhuman treatment, forced disappearances and outrages on personal dignity committed in situations of armed conflict and occupation are war crimes, and when committed as part of a systematic or widespread attack against the civilian population they constitute crimes against humanity,” said Heba Morayef.
“The harrowing scenes in Gaza must draw international condemnation, and deserve urgent investigation and measures to prevent further torture, enforced disappearances and other crimes under international law. “The world must ensure that such acts are not normalized but recognized as an affront to humanity.”
Amnesty International reiterates its call on Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza to immediately and unconditionally release all civilians held hostage, treat all captives humanely and allow the International Committee of the Red Cross access to all hostages and captives. Taking hostages and kidnapping civilians are war crimes. Recording testimonies of hostages and disseminating them publicly, such as video released by the armed wing of Hamas on December 18 of three hostages, all elderly civilians, constitutes inhuman and degrading treatment.
Additional information
Among the Palestinian population of Gaza who have been victims of enforced disappearance are people detained in both Gaza and Israel. An unknown number of Palestinians from Gaza with permission to enter Israel, mostly workers, remain forcibly disappeared. They are among thousands of people arbitrarily detained by Israeli forces, many of whom were later released.
On December 18, Time reported the deaths in custody of several Gaza detainees held at the Beersheba Airfield military base, where at least three detention centers, plus another newly built one, can hold up to 200 people each. According to information provided by Time, the detainees, including children and elderly people, remain “blindfolded and handcuffed for most of the day.”
#investigation #urgently #needed #inhuman #treatment #forced #disappearance #Palestinian #detainees #Gaza