Sde Teiman detention camp
Sde Teiman is an Israeli military base located in the Negev desert which, during the Israel–Hamas war, has been doubling as a detention camp,[1] used to detain Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. Multiple whistleblowing Israeli employees and released Palestinian detainees have reported systemic abuse and human rights violations, including physical and psychological torture. The camp has been dubbed "Israel's Guantánamo Bay."[2]
Background
The military base was partially converted into a detention camp in the wake of the passing of the Unlawful Combatants Law by the Knesset in December 2023.[1] The law allows the Israel Defense Forces to detain people without an arrest warrant for 45 days, after which the detainees must be transferred to the Israel Prison Service.[1] As of 10 May 2024, the IDF has acknowledged two similar camps: Ofer Prison and a prison in Anatot, both in the West Bank.[1]
As of 7 March 2024, Haaretz reported 27 deaths either from Sde Teiman, another camp, or "during questioning in Israeli territory."[3]
Reports of abuse
In April 2024, Haaretz obtained a letter written by a doctor at a field hospital at Sde Teiman to Israel's attorney general, defense minister, and health minister.[4][5] The doctor wrote that "inmates are fed through straws, defecate in diapers and are held [in] constant restraints, which violate medical ethics and the law."[4][5] The doctor alleged that understaffing and inadequate care led to complications and deaths, describing amputations due to handcuff injuries as "routine."[4][5] A separate medical source who visited Sde Teiman corroborated the letter to CNN.[5] The source also characterized systemic dehumanizing of detainees, alleging that officials are told not to use prisoners' names but rather their serial numbers.[5]
In May 2024, three anonymous Israeli employees of the camp spoke to CNN as whistleblowers, during which they corroborated and expanded upon reports of abuse and poor conditions revealed by multiple detainees who were later released. The whistleblowers detailed enclosures where detainees are blindfolded and not allowed to speak or move. Images leaked to CNN show rows of men wearing gray tracksuits with blindfolds, each sitting on an exceptionally thin mattress, surrounded by a barbed-wire fence.[1][6]
Punishments include beatings and for prisoners to raise their hands in a stress position, sometimes zip-tied to a fence, for upwards of an hour.[1][6] In what one released detainee called "the nightly torture," guards would conduct routine searches with dogs and sound grenades while prisoners were sleeping.[1]
The whistleblowers echoed previous accounts of wounded detainees physically restrained to beds, wearing diapers, fed through straws, and blindfolded.[1] They further alleged that medical procedures are frequently performed by underqualified employees and often without anesthesia.[1] According to the whistleblowers, the medical team were told to not document treatments or sign papers, corroborating April 2024 reporting by Physicians for Human Rights in Israel that anonymity is employed to hinder potential investigation.[1][6][7]
See also
- Human rights violations against Palestinians by Israel
- Mass detentions in the Israel–Hamas war
- Palestinian prisoners in Israel
- Torture during the Israel–Hamas war
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Qiblawi, Tamara (2024-05-10). "Israeli whistleblowers detail horror of shadowy detention facility for Palestinians". CNN. Retrieved 2024-05-12.
- ^ Wilkins, Brett (4 April 2024). "Doctor at Israeli Detention Camp for Gazans Blows Whistle on War Crimes". Common Dreams. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
- ^ Shezaf, Hagar (2023-12-18). "Hundreds of Gazans arrested during war held blindfolded and handcuffed at Israeli base". Haaretz. Retrieved 2024-05-12.
- ^ a b c Shezaf, Hagar; Tov, Michael Hauser (2024-04-04). "Doctor at Israeli field hospital for detained Gazans: 'We are all complicit in breaking the law'". Haaretz. Retrieved 2024-05-14.
- ^ a b c d e Kent, Lauren (2024-04-06). "Israeli doctor says detained Palestinians are undergoing 'routine' amputations for handcuff injuries, Haaretz reports". CNN. Retrieved 2024-05-14.
- ^ a b c Magid, Jacob (May 11, 2024). "US 'deeply concerned' after report alleges Gaza prisoners abused at Israeli facility". The Times of Israel. Retrieved May 14, 2024.
- ^ Ziv, Hadas; Dror, Oneg Ben (April 2024). "MEDICAL ETHICS AND THE DETENTION OF GAZA RESIDENTS SINCE THE START OF THE 2023 WAR: AN ETHICAL OPINION PAPER" (PDF). Physicians for Human Rights in Israel. p. 10. Retrieved May 14, 2024.