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21:53 GMT
GENEVA, Nov 12 (KUNA) -- The United Nations Committee Against Torture is deeply appalled by the large number of alternative reports received from a variety of sources of what appeared to be systematic and widespread torture and inhuman treatment of Palestinians, including children and other vulnerable groups.
The Committee, which concluded its meetings at the headquarters of the UN Human Rights Office in Geneva to review the Israeli occupation's compliance with the Convention against Torture, noted in a press release on Wednesday that torture and ill-treatment have sharply escalated since October 7, 2023 reaching unprecedented levels amid near-total impunity.
Committee expert and Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Territories Peter F. Kessing stated that many detainees who had been released reported being subjected to torture or cruel treatment including severe beatings even on the genitals electric shocks being forced to remain in painful stress positions for long periods deliberate exposure to inhumane detention conditions and starvation as well as waterboarding widespread sexual humiliation and threats of rape.
Kessing said the Committee had received reports indicating that thousands of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip including women and children spent months in military custody in appalling conditions losing life limbs and health.
Kessing said it had been reported to the Committee many times that Palestinians were exposed to abuse and torture during interrogations including the use of tightly locked handcuffs urination humiliation and denial of religious rights among others
Kessing questioned the credibility of the occupation's denial of these allegations which were reported by five credible institutions, noting that as of November 2024 only 15 indictments had been filed against soldiers for crimes committed in connection with the war.
The Committee is expected to issue its concluding observations on the occupation's report at the end of its eighty-third session on November 28. (end)
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