GENEVA — A new report by Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor presents a systematic and institutionalised pattern of abuse inside Israeli prisons and detention centres, particularly since October 7, 2023.
Titled Another Genocide Behind Walls, the report argues that the Israeli detention system is no longer operating within a conventional legal framework, but has instead transformed into a structure of organised abuse.
As the report states, “the Israeli detention system has undergone a significant shift to become an official structure that institutionalises systematic torture, where detention centres are no longer merely facilities for holding detainees, but spaces isolated from oversight, akin to legal and physical ‘black holes’.”
According to Euro-Med Monitor, this transformation has created an environment in which violations occur without accountability, noting that “detention centres became zones of immunity and impunity, where perpetrators are shielded from legal consequences, and victims are deprived of effective mechanisms for redress.”
Mass Arrests and Coercive Conditions
The report situates these abuses within a broader campaign of mass detention targeting Palestinians across Gaza and the occupied territories.
Euro-Med Monitor states that “extensive mass arrest campaigns, targeting thousands of Palestinians, including women, children, healthcare workers, and journalists, have created an unprecedented surge in detainee numbers, often carried out under conditions that disregard basic legal safeguards and due process.”
These arrests, the report explains, are accompanied by degrading conditions, describing detention facilities as operating within “a coercive environment marked by dehumanisation, where detainees are subjected to physical and psychological pressure designed to strip them of dignity and identity.”
The organisation emphasises the evidentiary basis of its findings, stating that “this report mainly relies on firsthand testimonies from Palestinian detainees from Gaza, supported by a cross-referencing approach that includes the analysis of leaked photos, videos, and official documents, ensuring a high degree of accuracy and reliability.”
Sexual Violence as a Systematic Tool
The report states that sexual violence is being used in a systematic and institutionalised manner.
Euro-Med Monitor states that it has documented “a widespread system of torture, including consistent patterns of systematic sexual violence, where detainees are subjected to forced public nudity, sexual harassment, threats of rape, and sexual assault, often in the presence of other detainees or personnel, as a means of humiliation, coercion, and control.”
Crucially, the report asserts that these practices are not isolated acts of individual misconduct but are instead embedded within policy frameworks, noting that such abuses are “carried out as part of a policy supported by senior civilian and military leaders, reflecting a broader institutional approach that enables and perpetuates these violations.”
Testimonies included in the report provide direct accounts of abuse. One detainee recounts: “They showed me pictures of me naked. They threatened to publish them. They repeatedly electrocuted me, and each time they increased the intensity of the electric shocks while I was restrained and unable to move.”
Institutional Collusion
Euro-Med Monitor expands responsibility beyond individual perpetrators, pointing to the systemic institutional involvement across multiple sectors.
The report states that “systematic crimes committed within Israeli detention centres rely on a structure of institutional collusion, where various state institutions, including the military, medical, and judicial systems, play interconnected roles in enabling, concealing, and sustaining these violations.”
In particular, the report criticises the role of medical personnel, stating that there is a “militarisation of medicine, where healthcare professionals are integrated into the detention system in ways that undermine the duty of care and contribute to the destruction or concealment of evidence related to torture and abuse.”
At the same time, the judiciary is described as failing to act as a check on these practices.
According to Euro-Med Monitor, “the Israeli judicial system fails in its oversight and accountability roles, often providing legal cover or justification for practices that violate international law, thereby reinforcing a climate of impunity.”
Physical and Psychological Destruction
The report argues that the consequences of these practices extend far beyond immediate harm, forming part of a broader strategy targeting the integrity of detainees.
Euro-Med Monitor states that the documented abuses constitute “a strategy aimed at the moral and physical destruction of detainees, where the use of torture and sexual violence is intended not only to extract information or compliance, but to break individuals psychologically and socially.”
It adds that these practices result in long-term damage, noting that they lead to “permanent disabilities and systematically destroying the body’s biological structure, leaving lasting physical and psychological scars that persist long after release.”
Euro-Med Monitor places its findings within the framework of international law, arguing that the documented practices meet the threshold of serious international crimes.
The report states that these violations are “not accidental or isolated acts but a systematic pattern of grave international violations, which qualify as crimes under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and the Geneva Conventions.”
It further emphasises that many of the acts described “constitute acts that fall within the scope of torture, as defined under international law, given their severity, intentionality, and the involvement of state actors.”
The report also warns that the scale and nature of these abuses may engage the Genocide Convention, stating that they “violate the Genocide Convention, particularly in light of the intent and patterns of harm directed at a protected group.”
Calls for International Action
In its concluding section, Euro-Med Monitor calls for urgent and concrete international intervention.
It states that the situation involves “systematic international crimes, including torture, sexual violence, enforced disappearance and acts of genocide, which require immediate and effective responses from the international community.”
The report urges states and international bodies to take action, including “immediate, concrete actions such as pressing for the closure of Israeli detention centres where such violations are taking place, alongside the initiation of independent international investigations and accountability mechanisms.”
— The Palestine Chronicle
