RAMALLAH: The Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Commission said new testimonies by Palestinian detainees from the Gaza Strip revealed that around 1,200 Gazans detained in the Israeli Negev desert prison face systematic torture, abuse and horrifying assaults.

According to testimonies of Gaza detainees in the Negev prison, there are about 1,200 Gaza detainees in the Negev prison, divided into eight sections, each section containing 150 detainees. Detainees suffer unbearable conditions in overcrowded cells that lack basic health standards, including the infestation of insects and snakes, which led to the outbreak of contagious skin diseases.

The Commission stressed that nearly a year into the ongoing genocidal war against the Palestinian people, the occupation persists in employing all available policies and methods to torture detainees in its prisons and detention camps, which have become venues for torture operations.

The commission stressed that the treatment of detainees today is a manifestation of the g
enocidal war, which is evident in the harrowing and brutal testimonies of those incarcerated.

The Commission stressed that the passage of time only heightens the threats to the detainees’ fate, as the prison administration continues to develop new methods to strip them of their humanity.

It reiterated its call for the international human rights system to reclaim its essential role and end the impotence regarding the systematic crimes of the occupation amid the ongoing genocidal war and crimes committed against Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons.

The Commission called for holding the leaders of the occupation accountable at international courts for their acts of genocide, the systematic looting and destruction of everything Palestinian and the crimes committed against detainees.

The occupation authorities have been committing the crime of enforced disappearance against thousands of detainees in Gaza. Several months ago, following some legal amendments, human rights organizations were able to conduct
limited visits to the detainees; however, many are still subjected to the crime of enforced disappearance, along with thousands who remain missing.

To date, the occupation refuses to allow the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit the detainees or obtain any information regarding their status. The commission highlighted the significant obstacles that have been facing the legal teams in their follow-ups and visits since the onset of the war.

Source: Palestine news & Information Agency – WAFA