At a detention camp in the Negev Desert in southern Israel, Palestinian prisoners are subjected to widespread physical and psychological abuse, according to anonymous testimony from two people who worked at the Sde Teiman center.
The speakers describe the horrific treatment of Palestinians from Gaza and suspected Hamas members imprisoned in Sde Teiman. Among the humiliations described, workers routinely found themselves chained to hospital beds, blindfolded and forced to wear diapers. According to both, there has been at least one case where an inmate had a limb amputated due to injuries sustained from handcuffs.
The installations, located on a military base about 18 kilometers from Israel's border with Gaza, consists of two parts, according to the two sources: a facility where up to 200 Palestinian prisoners from Gaza are kept in cages and with strict physical restrictions; and a field hospital where dozens of war wounded live handcuffed to their beds – usually without painkillers to ease their pain.
Standing, handcuffed and blindfolded
One of the sources worked as a prison guard at the prison, where inmates had to stand or sit on their knees for hours. The former employee, who could face retaliation for his testimony, also explained that several detainees are beaten with clubs and are prohibited from speaking or moving their heads. “The detainees are locked in a kind of cage, all handcuffed and blindfolded,” he explained. “If you speak or move, you will be immediately silenced or forced to stand with your hands cuffed above your head for an hour.”
“If they cannot hold their hands up, the soldiers attach the handcuffs to the bars of the cage; “Many of the detainees had infected wounds that were not treated,” he said. “The floor is very dirty and smelly so much that they forced us to wear masks; “Sometimes you could hear the sound of blows, the screams of the prisoners and a sound like hitting the metal wall,” he added.
According to the former guard, the prisoners were given a cucumber, a few slices of bread and a bowl of cheese to eat; and some were visibly malnourished. The military had no proof that all the prisoners were members of Hamas, he explained, and some prisoners asked again and again why they were being held.
According to the source, most of the prisoners were just suspects and some were released. “There was no formal accusation against them, it was a kind of filter camp, a pre-trial detention,” he said.
“All detained Gazans have been classified as 'illegal fighters' since the start of the war, a classification that deprives them of prisoner of war status and allows Israel to ban lawyers from visiting for extended periods, which represents a serious lack of surveillance at a time of maximum risk due to torture and harsh confinement conditions,” he denounces a report by the NGO Doctors for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-I), which requires field closure.
According to Israeli Prison Service data from early April, there are 849 “illegal fighters” in custody.
Patients tied to beds
The source said the detention center hospital consists of tents with an emergency room in which patients are operated on a stretcher due to the lack of an operating table. All patients are handcuffed to beds, wearing diapers and blindfolded, according to this person, who reported hearing that some patients were coming from hospitals in Gaza. “They were patients brought to the camp after the Israeli army arrested them in the hospitals in Gaza where they were being treated; “With infected limbs and wounds, they groaned in pain.”
He also heard about a detainee whose hand was amputated “because his wrists had become gangrenous from injuries caused by the handcuffs.”
The PHR-I report describes the case of 34-year-old Gazan Izz al Din al Bana, who was confined to a wheelchair before his arrest. He died in February after being transferred from Sde Teiman to another medical center to be treated for severe bedsores. According to the testimonies of other prisoners, he had been complaining of pain for days and no one had cared for him or treated him properly.
The statements of the person who worked as a prison guard were confirmed by information leaked by another person, a member of the medical team at the Sde Teiman field hospital, who spoke to the newspaper. Guardian. “There were about fifteen patients in total, all handcuffed and blindfolded,” the second person explained.
“Naked, they wore diapers and were covered with blankets; Most appeared to have obvious war wounds, some had undergone amputations and others had undergone major chest or abdominal surgeries; Except for the diaper, they were virtually naked,” he explained. “I understand that it is difficult to treat a patient accused of heinous crimes, but it is the job we have chosen and as doctors we must recognize that every human being has the right to adequate healthcare, regardless of his or her background . he said. He also reported seeing a patient undergo painful medical procedures without painkillers to relieve his pain.
In response to these complaints collected by The Guardian, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement: “Among those held at the Sde Teiman center are very dangerous qualified military agents; “The detainees are handcuffed depending on their risk and health status.” “Normally there are procedures for this [revisar] the way to handcuff them to ensure that the detainees are handcuffed without suffering harm,” they added.
“At the beginning of the war and after reports of injuries caused by handcuffs, the type of handcuffs in the facilities was changed to minimize possible injuries caused by handcuffs,” the statement said. The IDF claims that detainees are “given regular access to the toilets of the prison complex” and that diapers are only used to “maintain hygiene for those who have undergone medical procedures and therefore have reduced ability to move”.
The IDF assures that it treats detainees “appropriately and carefully” and that “any allegation of misconduct by soldiers is investigated and dealt with accordingly.” Where appropriate, the Marechaussee will initiate a criminal investigation,” the statement said.