Extract from ABC News
In short:
A report by the UN Human Rights Office says Palestinian prisoners are being subjected to waterboarding, electric shocks and other forms of torture in Israeli prisons.
More than 9,400 "security detainees", many seized in Gaza since Israel's war in the territory began, include doctors, nurses and women and children.
What's next?
The UN High Commissioner has called for the prisoners' immediate release as well as the hostages taken by Hamas during the October 7 attack.
Thousands of Palestinian prisoners have been subjected to waterboarding, sleep deprivation, electric shocks, the release of dogs on them and other forms of torture and mistreatment, according to a report by the UN Human Rights Office.
The report on detention, released on Wednesday local time, said Israel's prison service held more than 9,400 "security detainees" as of the end of June, and some have been held in secret without access to lawyers or respect for their legal rights.
The authors of the report said its content was shared with the Israeli government. There was no immediate comment from Israeli authorities.
The report also said detainees had been forcibly removed from Gaza, sometimes from bomb shelters, and dragged into detention in Israel where dozens have died.
Many of those seized in Gaza since the war began on October 7 were taken at checkpoints as they fled Israel's military offensive, or from the schools and hospitals where they were sheltering, said the 23-page report based primarily on interviews with released detainees and other victims and witnesses.
High commissioner calls for release of prisoners, hostages
The UN report outlined that, often, Palestinian prisoners were blindfolded and shackled before being transported to Israel and placed in "cage-like" military centres and forced to wear nothing but diapers for prolonged periods.
Fifty-three detainees died in custody, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said.
"The testimonies gathered by my office and other entities indicate a range of appalling acts, such as waterboarding and the release of dogs on detainees, amongst other acts, in flagrant violation of international human rights law and international humanitarian law," said High Commissioner Volker Türk, in a statement accompanying the report.
He called for their immediate release as well as the release of the remaining Israeli hostages from among the 253 kidnapped in the October 7 attacks.
"Detainees said they were held in cage-like facilities, stripped naked for prolonged periods, wearing only diapers," a summary of the report said.
"Their testimonies told of prolonged blindfolding, deprivation of food, sleep and water, and being subjected to electric shocks and being burnt with cigarettes.
"Some detainees said dogs were released on them, and others said they were subjected to waterboarding, or that their hands were tied and they were suspended from the ceiling.
"Some women and men also spoke of sexual and gender-based violence."
The Palestinian detainees held in Israel are mostly men and boys and included a range of people such as residents, doctors and nurses and their patients, as well as captured Palestinian fighters, the report said.
Generally they were held in secret, without being given a reason for their detention or access to a lawyer, the report said.
Reports of mistreatment growing in recent months
The Israeli military has said it is investigating allegations of mistreatment of detainees at facilities in Israel but has declined to comment on specific cases.
It plans a phase out of the Sde Teiman camp in the Negev desert, cited both in the UN report and by Palestinians rights group as a location of detainee abuse.
Reports of mistreatment of detainees in Israeli prisons have been growing in recent months.
The issue of detainees has added to international pressure on Israel over its conduct of the Gaza war, now approaching the start of its 11th month.
In May, the US State Department said it was looking into allegations of Israeli abuse of Palestinian detainees.
It is also sparking domestic tensions in Israel, where this week right-wing protesters broke into military compounds where Israeli soldiers were due to be questioned as part of an investigation into alleged abuse of a Palestinian detainee.
The report did not say how many detainees have since been released.
A UN spokesperson said it was impossible to determine.
Findings in the report, one of the most extensive of its kind, could be used by International Criminal Court prosecutors who are looking into crimes committed in connection with the October 7 attacks and their aftermath, including Israel's invasion of Gaza.
The war began on October 7 with a Hamas attack on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people, with the militant group taking 253 hostage, Israeli authorities have said.
Nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed since the Israeli invasion of the occupied territory began in late October, according to Gazan health authorities.
Reuters/AP
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