The European Union condemns torture and sexual assault against Palestinian prisoners
The European Union expressed its dismay and condemnation on Thursday of what is being circulated about Israeli soldiers torturing, and sexually assaulting Palestinian detainees.
“The European Union is deeply concerned by allegations of human rights violations and abuses, including torture and sexual assault, against Palestinian detainees at the Sde Teiman military facility in Israel and elsewhere,” the EU spokesman for diplomatic service, Peter Stano.
Brussels also called on Tel Aviv to open its prisons to human rights monitors after a video clip began circulating showing a prisoner being sexually assaulted while others were lying on their faces with their hands behind their heads.
Stano added that the European Union has repeatedly called on Israel to ensure that all detainees or prisoners are treated in accordance with international human rights law, international humanitarian law and international humanitarian standards… regardless of the seriousness of the charges against these detainees.
The European official also called on Israel to allow Red Cross humanitarian workers to visit prisons where Palestinians are being held.
On Tuesday, Israel’s Channel 12 News broadcast footage from surveillance cameras showing Israeli soldiers sexually assaulting a Palestinian prisoner in the Sde Teiman detention center in southern Israel.
In late July, Israeli military police arrested several soldiers working as guards at Sde Teiman prison in connection with an assault on a prisoner at the facility, sparking protests from a number of Israelis, including members of the Knesset from far-right parties, who attempted to storm the soldiers’ detention facilities.
For his part, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said on Wednesday that these allegations should be fully investigated by the government of Israel, and the Israeli military.
“We saw the video, the reports of sexual assault on detainees, and they were horrific,” Miller added.
Israeli authorities have long faced accusations of systematic mistreatment, and abuse of Palestinian prisoners.
A report issued last month by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights cited evidence of a range of horrific acts against Palestinian detainees.
There are about 9,500 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons, and military bases.
According to United Nations figures, at least 53 Palestinians have died in Israeli prisons in the 10 months since October 7, 2023, when Operation Protective Edge began and the war on Gaza began.
