GENEVA/PNN/

Head of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Ajith Sunghay, said that Israel is detaining Palestinians from Gaza on a broad scale, including many civilians, held in secrecy, often subject to ill-treatment, with no access to their families, lawyers or effective judicial protection.

“The families of detainees – believed to number in the thousands – have not been provided with information on the fate or location of their loved ones,” he said during a press conference in Geneva.

He demanded Israel take urgent steps to ensure that all those arrested or detained are treated in line with international human rights and international humanitarian law norms and standards, notably with full respect for their due process rights.

“Unless Israel can demonstrate imperative security grounds for each person remaining in detention, they must be charged or released.”

He stressed that the Israeli authorities must ensure that families have access to information about their loved ones.

He stressed that all instances of ill-treatment or torture of people arrested or detained must be fully and transparently investigated, and, if found to have taken place, action must be taken to ensure accountability and to prevent recurrence. "Victims and their families have the right to truth, justice, and reparations."

He stressed that there are men who were detained by Israeli forces in unknown locations for between 30 to 55 days. “They described being beaten, humiliated, subjected to ill-treatment, and to what may amount to torture. They reported being blindfolded for long periods – some of them for several consecutive days.”

One man said he had access to a shower only once during his 55 days in detention. There are reports of men who were subsequently released – but only in diapers, without any adequate clothing in this cold weather, added Head of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.