Human Rights Organizations Urge UN Member States to Safeguard Palestinian Detainees

By Staff, Agencies

Human rights organizations have called on UN member states to take urgent steps to “protect people deprived of their liberty” across the occupied Palestinian territory.

31 human rights organizations, including Save the Children, Human Rights Watch and Oxfam, have called on UN member states to establish protective measures and ensure dignity for detained individuals.

The statement called for immediate and unrestricted access to all detainees and hostages by the International Committee of the Red Cross, as per international humanitarian law.

The organizations also said that Palestinian children arbitrarily arrested and detained by the "Israeli" military should be released “immediately and unconditionally.”

The statement highlighted the systematic abuse and mistreatment of Palestinian children by "Israeli" military, including degrading practices like strip searches and forced animal imitation.

The groups emphasized that no child should be involved in a military court or any court lacking fair trial rights and basic safeguards.

Save the Children reports Palestinian children in "Israeli"-operated prisons are experiencing hunger, physical mistreatment, infectious diseases, sexual assault, and severe beatings.

"Israeli" prisons have severely restricted access for human rights monitors, lawyers, and West Bank detainees' families, while Gazan detainees face nearly nonexistent access.

UN Special Representative Pramila Patten expressed concern over rape and other forms of sexual violence against Palestinian abductees in Israeli custody, describing the normalization of such acts as unacceptable.

“Sexual violence, in any form, especially in detention, is unacceptable. It violates human rights and undermines regional peace,” the statement concluded.

Torture in "Israel's" prisons and detention centers has been widespread and systematic, including rape, sexual assault, beatings, sleep deprivation, and starvation, according to various reports.