Torture and systematic degrading practices have been inflicted on civilians detained by Palestinian forces in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.[1][2] As of 2018, Amnesty reported that LGBT people were subjected to arbitrary arrest and ill-treatment.[2]
The Palestinian Authority had reportedly practiced torture in the Palestinian territories over the years. In 1995, Azzam Rahim, a naturalized American citizen, was arrested by the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. He was subsequently taken to a prison in Jericho where he was tortured and killed.[3] Rahim's family attempted to sue the PA and the Palestine Liberation Organization, but the Supreme Court ultimately ruled against them.[4]
In 2007, Amnesty International found that "Torture [by the Palestine Authority] of detainees remained widespread. Seven detainees died in custody. Unlawful killings, including possible extrajudicial executions, continued to be reported."[5]
More than 100 cases of torture by Palestinian security services were reported in 2010. Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said: "The reports of torture by Palestinian security services keep rolling in. President Abbas and Prime Minister Fayyad are well aware of the situation. They need to reverse this rampant impunity and make sure that those responsible are prosecuted."[6]
At least six Palestinians died under torture in PA prisons. According to a report by the Arab Organization for Human Rights in Britain, the PA has used torture on a systematic basis for years. Methods include beatings with cables, pulling out nails, suspension from the ceiling, flogging, kicking, cursing, electric shocks, sexual harassment and the threat of rape. The report went on to say "Every one of those detainees has been subject to humiliating and degrading treatment and stayed in cells for more than 10 days. The analysis shows that an astonishing 95 percent of the detainees were subjected to severe torture, others feeling the detrimental effects on their health for varying periods."[7] The shabeh, which involves detainees being handcuffed and bound in stress positions for longs stretches of time, is the most widely used form of torture.[8]
Human Rights Watch reported 147 cases of torture by Hamas in the West Bank during 2011 and that none of the perpetrators had been prosecuted "despite consistent allegations of severe abuse." It further stated that "Some men said they had needed medical care due to torture and sought to obtain medical records as evidence that they had been tortured, but that hospital officials refused to provide them. Hamas’s rival in the West Bank, the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority, arrests and detains Palestinians arbitrarily, including Hamas members or sympathizers, and similarly subjects detainees to torture and abuse."[9]
In 2012, after allegedly selling a house in Hebron to a Jewish family, Muhammad Abu Shahala was arrested by the Palestinian Authority, tortured into a confession, and sentenced to death.[10][bettersourceneeded]
In another report, Human Rights Watch "documents cases in which [Palestinian] security forces tortured, beat, and arbitrarily detained journalists, confiscated their equipment, and barred them from leaving the West Bank and Gaza." HRW also reported an incident in which "the Hamas Ministry of Interior summoned a journalist who published an article on torture by Hamas authorities in secret detention facilities, threatened to take legal action against him if he did not publish an apology for the article, and warned him to correct his 'biased' reporting."[11]
State of Palestine
While the State of Palestine’s ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment on 29 December 2017, Palestinian security forces in the West Bank and Hamas security in Gaza continued using torture and other ill-treatment.[2]
In 2018, The Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR) received 285 allegations of torture and other ill-treatment of detainees held by Palestinian security forces in the West Bank and by Hamas forces Gaza.[2]
Also in 2018, the Human Rights Watch published that both Palestinian authorities and Hamas routinely arrest and torture opponents and critics, in what have been described as “parallel police states”.[12]
Hamza Howidy, a Palestinian from Gaza, reported being arrested and tortured for protesting against Hamas multiple times.[13]
Practices on minorities and foreigners
Israelis
In 2017, Israel sued Palestinian administration for reportedly arresting and torturing fifty Arab citizens of Israel over the period of 1990s and early 2000s.[14]
In October 2000, some Palestinians started to beat some Israeli soldiers who had accidentally entered the Palestinian territories. These Palestinians were later arrested.[15]
Palestinian LGBT community
As of 2018, Amnesty reported that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people were subjected to arbitrary arrest and ill-treatment.[2]
Palestinian converts to Judaism and Christianity
In one case in 2019, it was reported that Palestinian police arrested and had badly beaten two Palestinians in Hebron, who had converted to Judaism.[16] The two, a man in his fifties and his son, received injuries including burns on arms and legs. The case took place in October 2019.[16]
The Palestinian Authority, officially known as the Palestinian National Authority or the State of Palestine, is the Fatah-controlled government body that exercises partial civil control over the Palestinian enclaves in the Israeli-occupied West Bank as a consequence of the 1993–1995 Oslo Accords. The Palestinian Authority controlled the Gaza Strip prior to the Palestinian elections of 2006 and the subsequent Gaza conflict between the Fatah and Hamas parties, when it lost control to Hamas; the PA continues to claim the Gaza Strip, although Hamas exercises de facto control. Since January 2013, following United Nations General Assembly resolution 67/19, the Palestinian Authority has used the name "State of Palestine" on official documents, without prejudice to the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) role as "representative of the Palestinian people".
This article describes the use of torture since the adoption of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which prohibited it. Torture is prohibited by international law and is illegal in most countries. However, it is still used by many governments.
Torture in Bahrain refers to the violation of Bahrain's obligations as a state party to the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and other international treaties and disregard for the prohibition of torture enshrined in Bahraini law.
Administrative detention is arrest and detention of individuals by the state without trial. A number of jurisdictions claim that it is done for security reasons. Many countries claim to use administrative detention as a means to combat terrorism or rebellion, to control illegal immigration, or to otherwise protect the ruling regime.
The state of human rights in the West Bank and Gaza Strip is determined by Palestinian as well as Israeli policies, which affect Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories both directly and indirectly, through their influence over the Palestinian Authority (PA). Based on The Economist Democracy Index this state is classified as an authoritarian regime.
Human rights in Egypt are guaranteed by the Constitution of the Arab Republic of Egypt under the various articles of Chapter 3. The country is also a party to numerous international human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. However, the state of human rights in the country has been criticized both in the past and the present, especially by foreign human rights organisations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. As of 2022, Human Rights Watch has declared that Egypt's human rights crises under the government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is "one of its worst ... in many decades", and that "tens of thousands of government critics, including journalists, peaceful activists, and human rights defenders, remain imprisoned on abusive 'terrorism' charges, many in lengthy pretrial detention." International human rights organizations, such as the aforementioned HRW and Amnesty International, have alleged that as of January 2020, there are some 60,000 political prisoners in Egypt. Other complaints made are of authorities harassing and detaining "relatives of dissidents abroad" and use of "vague 'morality' charges to prosecute LGBT people, female social media influencers, and survivors of sexual violence." The Egyptian government has frequently rejected such criticism, denying that any of the prisoners it holds are political prisoners.
The future of Palestinian prisoners detained by Israel in the context of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict is considered central to progress in the Israeli–Palestinian peace process. Cases of prison sentences include the charges of terrorism or being a member of an "illegal terrorist organization", such as Hamas or prior to the Oslo Accords the Palestine Liberation Organization, but according to some accounts also by political activism such as raising a Palestinian flag.
Hana Shalabi is a Palestinian prisoner in Israel, held in administrative detention.
The Battle of Gaza, also known as the Gaza civil war, was a brief civil war between Fatah and Hamas that took place in the Gaza Strip from 10 to 15 June 2007. It was a prominent event in the Fatah–Hamas conflict, centered on the struggle for power after Fatah lost the 2006 Palestinian legislative election. The battle resulted in the dissolution of the unity government and the de facto division of the Palestinian territories into two entities: the West Bank governed by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), and the Gaza Strip governed by Hamas. Hamas fighters took control of the Gaza Strip, while Fatah officials were either taken as prisoners, executed, or expelled. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights reported that at least 161 people were killed and more than 700 were wounded during the fighting.
The Palestinian Security Services (PSS) are the armed forces and intelligence agencies of the State of Palestine. They comprise twelve branches, notably the Security Forces, the civil police, the Presidential Guard and the national security forces. The President of the Palestinian National Authority is Commander-in-Chief of the Palestinian Forces.
Capital punishment in the Gaza Strip has been enforced by multiple governments, militaries, and irregular militias throughout the area's history. A large proportion of the killings have been associated with broader violent conflicts. Many of the executions have be described as extrajudicial killings due to an incomplete or unaccountable court procedures.
Israeli torture in the occupied territories refers to the use of torture and systematic degrading practices on Palestinians detained by Israeli forces in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The practice, routine for decades, was eventually reviewed by the Supreme Court of Israel in 1999, which found that "coercive interrogation" of Palestinians had been widespread, and deemed it unlawful, though permissible in certain cases. Torture is also practiced by the Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
The 2019 Gaza economic protests, also called the We Want to Live protests and the 14 March Movement, were a series of protests held in the Gaza Strip from 14 March to 18 March; demonstrators protested high costs of living and tax hikes. Moumen Al-Natour, a Palestinian lawyer and human rights activist, founded the We Want to Live movement.
Crime in the State of Palestine is present in various forms which include theft, drug trafficking, arms trafficking, burglary, human trafficking and terrorism.
Events in the year 2020 in Palestine.
Since the outbreak of the Israel–Hamas war on October 7, 2023, Israel has carried out mass arrests and detentions of Palestinians. Thousands have been arrested in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories and in Israel, based on alleged militant activity, offensive social media postings, or arbitrarily.
The 2023 Israel–Hamas war led to an intensive interrogation program by Israeli intelligence agencies, particularly Israel's domestic security agency, Shin Bet and IDF's Unit 504, targeting captured "Hamas militants". Following the sudden attack on 7 October, which killed more than 1,100 Israelis, alleged militants were captured in Israel. Israel has claimed that the interrogation of the suspects revealed significant insights into the group's strategies, ideologies, and operational methods that played a crucial role in Israel's military response and in shaping the global understanding of the conflict.
During the ongoing Israel–Hamas war, Israeli male and female soldiers, guards as well as medical staff have reportedly committed wartime sexual violence against Palestinian children, women and men including rape, gang-rape, sexualized torture and mutilation. In February, UN experts cited at least two cases of Palestinian women being raped by male Israeli soldiers. Palestinian boys and men have also been raped and subjected to torture, and in some cases, the torture has led to the victim's death.
During the Israel–Hamas war, Israel has systematically tortured Palestinians detained in its prison system. This torture has been reported by the United Nations, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, as well as Israeli nonprofit human rights organizations such as Physicians for Human Rights Israel and B'Tselem.
Palestinian internal political violence has existed throughout the course of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, notwithstanding the fact that the vast majority of Palestinian political violence has been directed against Israeli targets. Some analysts have referred to this type of violence as "intrafada", a play on "intifada".
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