An indictment has been filed against five Israeli reserve soldiers for brutally torturing a Palestinian detainee at Sde Teiman, a site linked to systematic abuse of Palestinian prisoners.
The Israeli Broadcasting Authority (KAN) reported on Wednesday that an indictment has been filed against five reserve soldiers, including two officers, for assaulting and torturing a Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman camp in the Naqab (Negev) desert. Testimonies have described widespread torture of prisoners at the facility.
According to the indictment, the soldiers inflicted severe violence on the detainee, including stabbing him with a sharp object in sensitive areas. As a result, he suffered broken ribs, a punctured lung, and an internal tear in the rectum.
The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that the torture took place on July 5, and military police investigators spent seven months examining the case.
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That same month, the Israeli army launched a criminal investigation into the deaths of 48 Palestinians due to torture and abuse, most of whom were prisoners from Gaza. Among them, 36 detainees died at Sde Teiman.
In September, the Israeli Supreme Court rejected a request from civil society organizations to shut down the Sde Teiman detention center.
The court ruled that the government is “obligated to respect the law” at the facility, following a petition submitted in May by human rights and anti-torture organizations.
Reports from Israeli sources, along with testimonies from Israeli doctors who worked in the prison and Palestinian detainees released from Sde Teiman, have confirmed widespread torture and mistreatment.
Human rights organizations have also documented that prisoners are held in cages, handcuffed and blindfolded, under harsh and inhumane conditions, lacking even basic necessities.
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Systematic Torture
Sde Teiman has been identified as a site of systematic torture against Palestinian detainees, particularly since October 7.
Detainees have repeatedly described extreme physical abuse, including electrocution, beatings, deprivation of food and medical care, and sexual violence.
Last August, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that medical professionals who worked in the facility had corroborated reports of widespread torture, with some acknowledging that detainees were subjected to conditions that violated international law.
Rape and Torture at Israel’s Sde Teiman Concentration Camp – Video Analysis
Testimonies from released prisoners describe being kept in overcrowded cages, exposed to extreme weather and denied access to toilets, medical attention, or legal representation.
International human rights groups have called for independent investigations and the closure of the facility, but Israeli authorities have largely dismissed these demands.
(PC, AJA)
