Human Rights Foundation: Rape and sexual assault have become systematic tools of torture in prisons

Gaza - Ma'an - The Addameer Association for Human Rights - Gaza said that in light of its follow-up and visits to detainees in Israeli occupation prisons, it obtained statements and testimonies from detainees indicating that the occupation practices sexual assaults and rape in a systematic manner and as a prevailing pattern in most Israeli prisons. According to testimonies and statements obtained by Addameer, a number of detainees in Ofer prison were subjected to rape and sexual assault. One detainee reported that 'one night, the repression unit came and took me and a number of detainees to a barracks while we were handcuffed and blindfolded. They ordered us to sleep on our stomachs. One of the soldiers took me to a corner of the barracks and ordered me to raise my handcuffed hands and open my feet. He beat me with a stick on my back and all over my body. He pulled down my pants and then inserted a foreign object into my buttocks. I suffered from pain for more than two months. I was unable to sit on my butto cks and I bled from my buttocks for two months, in addition to blood coming out with my urine.' Another detainee reported that during the torture, the butt of a weapon (a rifle) was inserted into his buttocks while he was blindfolded and handcuffed, which caused him severe pain in his buttocks. It is noteworthy that scenes of rape and torture to which Palestinian detainees are subjected in 'Sidiye' were leaked . "Timan", which is considered one of the evidences and proofs of the occupation's practice of such practices and methods. The foundation confirmed that the occupation's sexual assaults constitute a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, especially Common Article 3 of the Four Geneva Conventions of 1949, as it is considered one of the crimes of torture, and its perpetrators must be held accountable and questioned. Accordingly, Addameer Foundation demands: - The United Nations and relevant international institutions to open a serious and effective investigation into the occupation's pra ctice of sexual assaults on detainees and to bring the perpetrators of these assaults to international accountability. - The International Committee of the Red Cross to carry out its responsibilities and conduct visits to all prisons and monitor the conditions in which detainees live and expose the violations to which they are subjected inside prisons. - Demanding the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to expedite the issuance of arrest warrants against the leaders of the occupation. Source: Maan News Agency