The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees condemns the “violations and ill-treatment” practiced by Israel towards its detained employees
The United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has claimed that some of its members and others detained by Israeli forces in Gaza have been subjected to ill-treatment, including severe beatings and forced nudity. UNRWA claims in a report that Israeli forces arrested some members of the organization while carrying out their official duties, and that they were “detained incommunicado and subjected to the same conditions and ill-treatment as other detainees,” including various forms of ill-treatment.
The detainees said they were beaten, threatened with rape, electrocuted, and forced to strip, among other forms of mistreatment, according to the agency. “UNRWA has submitted formal complaints to the Israeli authorities regarding the alleged treatment of agency employees while they were in Israeli detention centers,” the statement said. “To date, UNRWA has not received any response to these complaints.”
The Israeli army said that it acts in accordance with Israeli and international law, and that those it arrests are provided with adequate food, water, medicine, and clothing. The Palestinian Prisoners' Club said that Israel refuses to disclose information about the number of people from Gaza it has arrested during the past six months, or where they are being held. UNRWA documented the release by the Israeli authorities of 1,506 detainees in Gaza, including 43 children and 84 women, through the Kerem Shalom crossing as of April 4.
The released detainees were subjected to “insults and indignities, such as being forced to behave like animals or urinate on them, the use of loud music and noise, deprivation of water, food, sleep, and toilets, deprivation of the right to pray, and prolonged detention.” The use of tightly closed handcuffs, which caused open wounds and friction injuries,” according to UNRWA. The agency notes that “detainees were threatened with prolonged detention, injury, or killing of family members if they did not provide the required information.” (Reuters)
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