On 10 November the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) published testimonies by four recently released prisoners, a woman and three men, who suffered multiple rapes by groups of soldiers in military detention.

The extreme cruelty and inhuman treatment are explicit and shocking, conveyed by the survivors’ graphic words. We quote the woman here:

“They put me on a metal table, pressed my chest and head against it, cuffed my hands to the end of the bed, and pulled my legs apart forcefully. I felt a penis penetrating my anus and a man raping me. I started screaming and they beat me on my back and head while I was blindfolded.” N.A., 42-year-old.

These rapes were also filmed, another weapon used to publicly shame and silence victims, ensuring maximum physical and psychological harm

We have heard similar accounts directly from Palestinian women detainees who we met and they have called on us to help publicise and end this appalling violence.

The PCHR report adds to the hundreds of testimonies they released earlier this year and to the body of evidence gathered since the genocide began. These include reports by the UN OCHCR and the Human Rights Council 58^th Session, and by the UN Rapporteur on the Palestinian Territories, and the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls.

Women and men prisoners are stripped, raped and tortured to shame and humiliate. The violence against men has been publicised, but violence against the women has been less visible.

The torture of detainees is part of the ongoing crimes carried out  through military violence and starvation. This reproductive genocide targets women because we make life – we are the primary carers for families and the mainstay of communities whatever else we may be doing.

We agree with PCHR that the torture “confirms that what is happening in Israeli prisons is a systematic policy aimed at destroying the Palestinian people, not merely isolated incidents of abuse.”

IOF soldiers are carrying out government policy, they are unrestrained by law or any human rights obligations and have the support of much of the Israeli public. We were disgusted to see national news coverage of the few IOF soldiers brought to trial for the rape of a prisoner which had been caught on film, emerging from the court being treated as heroes.

Western governments are complicit in their continued support of the genocide and these appalling war crimes despite a massive global protest movement. The mainstream media has also been complicit – there has been little coverage of the rape and other torture perpetrated by Israeli soldiers.

We add our voice to the voice of Palestinian women and men who are demanding that these torture camps be immediately closed down, all prisoners freed, and all the Israeli soldiers who committed atrocities be prosecuted. The Israeli government should be held accountable for these crimes against humanity.

We will not be silenced. We call on women in particular and people of conscience everywhere to join us in speaking out and demanding an end to these atrocities.

Read the PCHR press release here.