Statement from RCT partner organization Gaza Community Mental Health Programme on the occasion of the UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.
" ALL THE SUPPORT FOR VICTIMS OF TORTURE IN
PALESTINE"
Today marks the twelfth anniversary of the official declaration of
UN General Assembly of June 26 as a day of support and solidarity
with victims of torture. Despite this long period, this commitment
still faces tremendous difficulties in terms of application of its
goals in minimizing torture.
Torture continues to be practiced at a wide scale worldwide. The
issue of torture in Israeli jails and many other countries are
flagrant examples of the absence of commitment to human rights
principles and laws as well as the persistence of oppression
worldwide.
Further, torture is a powerful impediment to democracy in a
society. It destroys individuals and institutions, and drowns
societies in fear, horror, and political & ideological
intimidation. It is painfully incongruent to mention any society
that speaks of human rights while practicing torture.
Torture is damaging to the body, mind, emotions, and spiritual
values including the very will to live - and most often -
destroying, beyond repair, relationships to self and others in the
family and community. For this reason, torture has been prohibited
and described by the international community as a punishable
crime.
The Palestinian experience represents a vivid example of this
truth. Over the 42 years of occupation, the Israeli authorities
have detained approximately three quarters of a million
Palestinians as part of an organized plan of intimidation and
collective punishment, aiming to inflict damage on individual
detainees, their families, and society as whole.
Most of those detainees were tortured as verified by research
studies conducted by Gaza Community Mental Health Programme. Men,
women, and even children were not spared this terrible experience.
Up till now, there is about 9500 detainees, 365 of whom are
children, who do not have their minimum basic rights, as set by the
international agreements, particularly the anti-torture
agreement.
Additionally, families from Gaza are banned to visit their detained
family members. Therefore, efforts must be intensified to make sure
that families are able to visit their detained members behind bars
and that third-party inspectors have full and free access to prison
facilities to monitor and hold Israel accountable to international
protocols, norms, and values.
In this regard, we extend our invitation to the UN Special
Rapporteur on Torture to visit Palestine immediately to have a
first-hand look at the conditions of Palestinian prisoners and
their rights in Israeli jails. The issue of torture must urge all
organizations and human rights activists worldwide to unite to
erase torture in all its forms. International communities and civil
societies are called upon to lobby for and implement laws against
torture, follow perpetrators, and bring them to justice.
We, appreciate the efforts of the United Nations Committee against
Torture, which issued its report regarding the fourth periodic
report of Israel regarding the adherence to the conventions against
Torture. The UN committee stated that Israel must commit to the
terms of the international convention against torture. The
Committee also urged Israel to ensure that Palestinian detainees
are enjoying their fundamental rights as stated by the Convention,
including; ensuring freedom from torture and presence of mechanisms
for monitoring and accountability of perpetrators of torture,
illegality of solitary administrative detention, a need for an
independent investigation in the complaints cases of detainees as
part of specific mechanisms of action, ensuring the non-existence
of secret prisons, prohibiting the detention of children under the
age of 18 years, as well as not committing acts affecting the
dignity of citizens on checkpoints.
The report also covered the recent war on Gaza and called for an
independent investigation on Israel's responsibility in the use of
white phosphorus and its adverse impacts on the lives of civilians.
Moreover, the report demanded Israel to ensure the delivery of
humanitarian aid and to end the suffering of Palestinians as a
result of the blockade and restrictions on the movement of goods.
Further, the report cited a need to facilitate the movement of
people at checkpoints in the West Bank and the need to stop
violence and attacks by settlers in the West Bank. The report also
condemned the policy of demolishing houses.
In the Palestinian reality, Palestinian division and political
polarization led to disastrous consequences in terms of violations
of human rights in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and contributed to
the increased exposure and torture of political activists and
militants from both sides. Moreover, the Palestinian-Palestinian
conflicts led to the division of the Palestinian prisoners'
movement in Israeli jails to a large extent, which influenced their
coherence and achievements, obtained historically by their struggle
over more than 40 years.
We call upon the law enforcement agencies in Palestine either in
Gaza or West Bank to respect the Palestinian and international law
with regards to treatment of detainees and make all efforts
possible to combat torture and prevent its occurrence. We emphasize
that the Palestinian Legislative Council must speed up the process
of endorsement of the torture law, drafted and introduced by Gaza
Community Mental Health Programme, and other civil society
organizations.
Today, we - as civil society organizations - believe that we have
to play a key role in ending the political division and bring back
national cohesion, and work to build a democratic Palestinian state
that respects law and safeguard freedoms and criminalizes torture
and punish perpetrators in order to help victims regain their
rights. This can be achieved through developing national prevention
mechanisms against torture through various means, including public
awareness, legislation, monitoring, and regular visits to places of
detention by national and international human rights
institutions.
Gaza Community Mental Health
Programme