July 30, 2024
Israeli forces
have been publishing degrading photographs and videos of detained Palestinians,
including children, a form of inhumane treatment and an outrage on their
personal dignity that amount to war crimes, Human Rights Watch said today.
In many cases,
detainees were stripped of their clothing, sometimes fully, then photographed
or filmed, with the images published by Israeli soldiers, media outlets, or
activists. Forced nudity followed by capturing and sharing sexualized images on
social media is a form of sexual violence and also a war crime.
“Israeli
authorities have for months turned a blind eye as members of their military
published dehumanizing fully or seminude images and videos of Palestinians in
their custody,” said Balkees Jarrah, acting Middle East director at Human
Rights Watch. “Senior officials and military commanders can be held criminally
responsible for ordering these crimes, or for failing to prevent or punish
them, including at the International Criminal Court.”
Israeli military
officials have publicly denounced some of their members for publishing images
of the detainees, but as far as Human Rights Watch has been able to determine,
the government has not publicly condemned the underlying treatment of
Palestinian detainees depicted in the images. Judicial authorities have not
announced any prosecutions for these crimes. On July 15, Human Rights Watch
wrote to the Public Diplomacy Office of the Israeli military but has not
received a response.
Since October,
Israeli forces have reportedly detained thousands of Palestinians from Gaza at
Sde Teiman, an army base in southern Israel, where they have been reportedly
ill-treated and tortured, and where at least 36 died in custody, according to
media reports. As of July, 124 Palestinians remained at Sde Teiman, according
to the Times of Israel, despite the Israeli attorney general calling on Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to transfer detainees out of the facility due to
the reports of abuse and deaths in custody.
Human Rights
Watch analyzed 37 of the posts depicting captured Palestinians, predominantly
men and boys in Gaza and the West Bank, often stripped to their underwear and
in some cases completely naked, handcuffed, blindfolded, and injured. Some
posts included demeaning and humiliating captions by Israeli soldiers or
journalists. Platforms like TikTok and YouTube have removed some of these
posts.
Between October
25 and December 28, one Israeli soldier, who according to his social media
holds United States citizenship, published at least seven photos and videos of
Palestinian men detained by his unit in the West Bank. In the images, the
clothed detainees are handcuffed, many of them are blindfolded, and some have
Israeli flags placed on them.
In two videos,
published on October 28 and 29, the soldier places US dollar bills on the knees
of two handcuffed, blindfolded, and squatting men, as a “blessing” while he
mocks them and asks them to repeat phrases in Hebrew. The soldier also posted
degrading captions, such as “trolling Hamas,” to accompany some of the
published images.
In another case,
an Israeli soldier in Gaza published a photo on Facebook on December 8, showing
at least 22 detained males in a single file, all stripped to their underwear,
some of them blindfolded. At least two detainees appear to be children. The caption
says: “As part of our mission we kept Hamas terrorists under arrest. We’ll
settle for this picture, there are pictures not for publication …”
Another image
posted on Instagram, by an Israeli soldier, who according to media reports
holds US citizenship, shows what appears to be a photograph of himself standing
in front of at least six men with their backs to the camera, stripped to their
underwear and kneeling on the ground while handcuffed and blindfolded, with
their arms above their head. The caption of the now deleted photo says: “Mom I
think I freed palestine” [sic].
Two separate
investigations by the BBC on the conduct of Israeli soldiers, in February in
Gaza, and in May in the West Bank, found that Israeli soldiers uploaded to
social media platforms dozens of images and videos intended to humiliate
Palestinians, including images of detainees who had been stripped to their
underwear and others who had been draped in Israeli flags.
The Israeli
military told the BBC that it had terminated the service of one reservist and
that this conduct did not represent its values. In a response to another BBC
investigation, the Israeli military said it had instructed soldiers “to avoid
uploading footage of operational activities to social media networks,” and
while it did not condemn any specific acts, it said that soldiers were
“disciplined and even suspended from reserve duty” in the event of
“unacceptable behavior.” The military spokesperson, Daniel Hagari, and national
security advisor, Tzachi Hanegbi, separately commented in December that people
who surrendered or were arrested needed to be stripped to be searched, as they
could be carrying explosives or weapons, but that clothes should be returned to
them and any photos taken should not be distributed. Hagari said the photos
were “unusual” and that disciplinary measures will be taken in any event that
is inconsistent with the Israeli military’s values. Hangebi said the photos
“served no purpose.” The Israeli military gave no further details on holding
those responsible accountable.
In its May 2024
report, the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on
the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel
concluded that the forced public stripping, nudity, and related “specific
persecutory acts” against Palestinian men and boys in Israeli custody were
either ordered or condoned by Israeli authorities, given the frequency of these
abuses, the way these acts were filmed and photographed, and that they occurred
in several locations.
Sexual violence
and committing “outrages upon personal dignity” on detainees are serious
violations of international humanitarian law, or the laws of war, applicable to
all parties to the hostilities in Israel and Palestine.
On October 7,
Hamas-led Palestinian armed groups, in what amount to war crimes and crimes
against humanity, attacked southern Israel, killing 815 civilians, according to
Agence France-Presse, and taking 251 people hostage. Since then, Israeli forces
have unlawfully attacked residential buildings, medical facilities, and aid
workers, largely destroying Gaza’s civilian infrastructure, including its water
and electricity plants. Israel is using starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza,
where about 90 percent of the population have been displaced, many of them
repeatedly.
Gaza’s Health
Ministry has reported over 38,000 deaths and 88,000 injuries. These abuses
occur amid the ongoing Israeli crimes against humanity of apartheid and
persecution against Palestinians.
Common article 3
of the Geneva Conventions requires that everyone in the custody of a warring
party “shall in all circumstances be treated humanely.” Prohibited acts include
“outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading
treatment.” Violations of article 3 are war crimes.
The
International Criminal Court (ICC), in its Elements of Crimes explanation of
the Rome Statute crimes, defines “outrages upon personal dignity” as acts in
which “[t]he perpetrator humiliated, degraded or otherwise violated the dignity
of one or more persons [and] the severity of the humiliation, degradation or
other violation was of such degree as to be generally recognized as an outrage
upon personal dignity.”
On May 20, the
ICC prosecutor, Karim Khan, announced that he was seeking arrest warrants
against two senior Israeli officials and three Hamas leaders. Khan confirmed
that his office has been conducting an investigation since March 2021 into
atrocity crimes committed in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem,
and that since 2014, his office has jurisdiction over crimes in the current
hostilities between Israel and Palestinian armed groups that covers unlawful
conduct by all parties.
“International
law recognizes the inherent dignity of human beings caught in a conflict, no
matter what side they are on,” Jarrah said. “Victims have a right to justice
and accountability, and any evidence of sexual violence should be investigated
urgently in a way that is thorough, credible, and prioritizes the needs,
well-being, and wishes of the survivors.”
Juan
Cole
Ann
Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Israeli newspaper Arab 48 reports that on
Monday, military police raided the Sde Teiman detention center where
Palestinian prisoners are being held, detaining 9 Israel soldiers suspected of
gang raping and severely sexually torturing detainees. One further suspect was
not apprehended. The soldiers belong to the Force 100 unit, which has been
detailed to Sde Teiman as prison guards.
It
is being reported that they were taken into custody because of the recent
transfer of a Palestinian prisoner to the Soroka Medical Facility in Beersheba
with severe injuries to his nether regions.
Soldiers
at Sde Teiman put up resistance to the military police, with a fight breaking
out, though the MPs clearly won that one.
Rejecting
these charges against the soldiers, a right wing mob that included members of
the Parliament from the Likud and the Religious Zionist and Jewish Power blocs,
then attempted several times to storm through the gates of the facility and
finally succeeded in breaching the military barricades, attacking MPs and
reaching the area where Palestinians are held. One soldier said that no one
seemed to be in control. The unruly crowd chanted its support for torture and
even called for the summary execution of the Palestinian prisoners.
Journalist
Haggai Matar observed, “In essence, soldiers are in open rebellion for the
right to rape prisoners, and more and more coalition politicians are joining
them – from Likud, Jewish Power, and more.”
The
mob, including the parliamentarians, then attempted but failed to storm the
Beit Lid base, where the nine detainees were being held for interrogation.
An
Israeli military spokesman said, “Following suspicions of serious abuse of a
detainee held at the Sde Teiman detention facility, the Military Police opened
an investigation at the behest of the Military Prosecutor’s Office.” Major
General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi is Israel’s military advocate general, who
ordered the detentions. The Israeli military said after the right wing mob’s
assault that the soldiers had not been arrested, only detained for questioning.
The
turmoil and governmental and army infighting caused the Israeli government to
announce a postponement of the expected attack on Lebanon in reprisal for an
alleged Hezbollah drone on the occupied Syrian Golan Heights that left several
Druze children dead.
Israeli
army radio said that the Palestinian prisoner who was tortured had been
arrested in the Gaza Strip several weeks before and had been identified as an
“unlawful combatant” and was being held at Sde Teiman under a permanent
detention order. The radio station said that this prisoner was observed in
serious condition, unable to walk, and was transferred to the hospital, where
he underwent surgery. Since that time, the military police had begun gathering
evidence and initiating an investigation.
The
ten accused soldiers were prison guards at Sde Teiman. They were detained on
suspicion of gang rape. One appears to be AWOL and has not yet been detained.
Israeli
analyst Shaiel Ben-Ephraim wrote on “X,” “Israeli sources are now confirming
the horrific CNN and New York Times reports of the conditions in Sde Taiman.
They include electric shocks, amputations due to bad conditions, severe
beatings, surgery without anesthesia, playing loud music until inmates’ ears
bleed, deaths due to bad sanitary conditions, systematic torture and sexual
abuse. Sources in the Israeli justice department are saying the evidence is so
clear and the cases so severe, it will be an open and shut case for
international courts. This is a horror that will never be forgotten. A
permanent stain on the state of Israel.”
Professor
Rula Jebreal relayed Israeli television footage of the Israeli parliament or
Knesset debating the day’s events, where a member from the Likud Party of
Benjamin Netanyahu was asked if it was all right to stuff a stick up a man’s
rectum, and he replied that yes, if the man is a terrorist. So there is a
pro-rape faction in the Israeli parliament.
Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyanu didn’t say anything for three hours after his
extremist allies tried to storm the base, then called for calm. Defense
Minister Yoav Gallant issued a communique in support of the troops and
rejecting the assault on the military base.
The
International Criminal Court has requested warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant
over war crimes in Gaza, and some observers believe that they authorized
Monday’s detention of the accused soldiers only because otherwise the ongoing
abuse at that base might increase the likelihood of their being indicted.
The
minister of national security, Jewish Power extremist Itamar Ben-Gvir attacked
the MPs and military prosecutor. He said, “The sight of military policemen
arriving to arrest our best heroes in Sde Teiman is nothing short of shameful.
I advise the defense minister, the chief of staff and the army authorities to
support the soldiers and take advantage of the prison service [which is under
Ben-Gvir’s responsibility]. Summer camps for and tolerance of terrorists are
over. Our soldiers must receive full support.”
Ben
Gvir had earlier urged summary executions of Palestinian detainees in Israeli
prisons.
Arab
48 writes, “Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara mentioned Ben-Gvir in a
memorandum to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding a petition being
considered by the Supreme Court regarding ‘the conditions of detention at the
Sde Teiman facility.’ Baharav-Miara wrote that ‘if the Sde Teiman detention
facility is not returned to its intended purpose immediately, this will have
far-reaching consequences,’ adding that it has become clear that Ben-Gvir’s
National Security Ministry is ‘effectively halting efforts to implement the
necessary solutions.’
Since
the beginning of the Israeli war on Gaza last October, Sde Teiman has served as
a detention center for Palestinian prisoners, the paper says, “who are held in
inhumane conditions, where they are kept handcuffed and legged and blindfolded
at all times.” The prisoners are held until it is determined whether they will
be given long jail sentences or released. Many men are scooped up in Gaza
without the Israeli army having a firm knowledge of whether they just happened
to be in the vicinity or were enemy combatants. All the Palestinians released
from Sde Teiman appear to have been the victims of severe torture.
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