A United Nations special rapporteur, Francesca Albanese, stated in a report released on Friday that Israel has been systematically torturing Palestinian detainees since October 7, 2023, on a scale that “suggests collective vengeance and destructive intent.” The report, titled “Torture and genocide,” examines Israel’s use of torture against Palestinians in the occupied territories, alleging it has been employed “on an unprecedented scale as punitive collective vengeance.” Albanese gathered written submissions, including at least 300 testimonies, detailing brutal beatings, sexual violence, rape, lethal mistreatment, starvation, and systematic deprivation of basic human conditions.
The report highlights that torture has become integral to the domination and punishment inflicted on men, women, and children, through both custodial abuse and a relentless campaign of forced displacement, mass killings, and destruction of livelihoods. Since October 2023, arrests of Palestinians have “escalated dramatically,” with over 18,500 people detained, including at least 1,500 children. Approximately 9,000 Palestinians remain in detention, while “more than 4,000 have been subjected to enforced disappearance.” Albanese described Israel’s detention system as having “descended into a regime of systemic and widespread humiliation, coercion, and terror.”
Albanese called on Israel to “immediately cease all acts of torture and ill-treatment of the Palestinian people as part of its ongoing genocide” and urged all countries “to do everything in their power to stop the destruction of what remains of Palestine,” warning that every delay “worsens irreversible harm and further entrenches a system of cruelty.” She also recommended that the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court request arrest warrants for Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
Albanese is due to present her report to the UN Human Rights Council on Monday. Although appointed by the Council, special rapporteurs are independent experts and do not speak on behalf of the UN itself. She has faced criticism from Israel and its allies, who have accused her of being motivated by an “obsessive, hate-driven agenda to delegitimise the state of Israel.” Last month, France and Germany called for her resignation following her alleged remarks at an Al Jazeera forum in Doha, though an edited video clip spread by the NGO UN Watch falsely attributed statements to her.
The report underscores the severe allegations against the Israeli regime, with Albanese emphasizing the need for international action to address what she describes as systematic abuses. The findings add to ongoing debates about human rights violations in the region, amid broader geopolitical tensions involving Western-backed regimes.
Source: www.aljazeera.com