UN panel says Israel operating 'de facto policy of torture'

The United Nations committee on torture says there is evidence that Israel is operating a "de facto state policy of organised and widespread torture".

The committee regularly reviews the records of all countries which have signed the convention against torture, taking testimony from their governments, and from human rights groups.

During Israel's review both Israeli and Palestinian rights groups gave harrowing details about conditions in Israeli detention centres. It is alleged that thousands of Palestinians have been detained by Israel since the Hamas attacks of October 7th 2023.

Under Israel's laws on administrative detention and on Unlawful Combatants – suspects who cannot be classed as prisoner of war - they can be held for long periods without access to a lawyer or family members.

Many Palestinian families say they have waited months to even find out that a loved has been detained, amounting, the UN committee said, to "enforced disappearance".

The committee was particularly critical of Israel's reported use of the Unlawful Combatants law to detain whole groups of Palestinians, including children, pregnant women, and the elderly.

But it is the reported conditions in detention which make the grimmest reading in the committee's conclusions, published today.

Palestinians, the evidence suggests, are regularly deprived of food and water, and subjected to severe beatings, attacks by dogs, electrocution, water boarding, and sexual violence. Some are allegedly permanently shackled, denied access to a toilet, and forced to wear diapers.

The committee concluded that such treatment "amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity". It said evidence of a "de facto state policy of organised and widespread torture" by Israel was one of the acts which constitute the crime of genocide under international law.

Israel has repeatedly rejected accusations that it is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

One committee member, Peter Vedel Kessing of Denmark, said he and his colleagues were "deeply appalled" by what they heard. Committee members also said they were very concerned at the lack of investigations or prosecutions into allegations of torture. They called on Israel to launch independent investigations, and to ensure those responsible, including senior military officers, are held accountable.

Israel, which has long accused the UN of bias against it, did not comment publicly today on the committee's findings, but during the committee hearings its ambassador, Daniel Meron, described the allegations of torture as "disinformation".

He said that Israel was "committed to upholding its obligations in line with our moral values and principles, even in the face of the challenges posed by a terrorist organisation".

In its conclusions, the UN committee took care to unequivocally condemn the Hamas attack of October 2023, and acknowledged the security challenges Israel faces.

But it also warned that violations of international law by one side did not justify the other side doing the same. Under the convention, to which Israel is a party, the prohibition on torture is absolute: it is not allowed under any circumstances.

Israel's domestic law is less clear however, suggesting that the convention only applies to Israeli territory, and not to the occupied territories of Gaza and the West Bank – an interpretation that many international lawyers dispute.

The findings come amid increasing pressure on Israel over its human rights record. On Friday in Geneva, the UN Human Rights Office said the killing by Israeli soldiers of two Palestinians in the West Bank looked like a "summary execution". Video of the killing showed the two men with their hands up, apparently surrendering to Israeli forces.

And UN aid agencies say conditions for people in the Gaza strip remain dire, despite the ceasefire. Thousands of families are facing the winter cold and rain in tents, they warn, not enough aid supplies are getting in, and Israeli air strikes against what Israel says are Hamas targets continue.

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