Israel’s war on Gaza has brought attention to the conditions inside Sde Teiman, a secretive Israeli military prison in the Negev desert. Human rights attorney Roni Pelli and other advocates began hearing reports of poor conditions and violence against Palestinian prisoners in the facility. Media reports have since revealed harrowing details, including detainees being restrained, blindfolded, and subjected to physical abuse. The prison has been compared to Guantánamo Bay.
In May, an Intercept investigation revealed that hundreds of Palestinian doctors have disappeared into Israeli detention, with one surgeon sharing his experience of being beaten and abused at Sde Teiman. The Israel Defense Forces were also investigating 48 deaths of Palestinians in Israeli custody, including 36 at Sde Teiman. Prompted by these reports, Pelli filed a petition to Israel’s Supreme Court to close the prison.
While rights groups in Israel have taken action to protect the rights of Palestinian detainees, the U.S. has shown little urgency on the issue. The State Department only commented on Sde Teiman when pressed by reporters, stating that all detainees must be treated humanely and that the U.S. had asked Israel to investigate the claims. However, there has been no further comment from the U.S. government.
It wasn’t until a leaked surveillance video showed Israeli soldiers allegedly gang-raping a Palestinian man in Sde Teiman that U.S. officials commented again. The State Department called on the Israeli military to investigate itself. Ten soldiers were arrested in connection with the gang rape, and another soldier was arrested for beating blindfolded and handcuffed Palestinians.
A recent report from Israeli human rights group B’Tselem revealed that Sde Teiman is not the only prison where Palestinians have been tortured. The report argued that the majority of imprisoned Palestinians have faced abuse and torture within Israeli custody. B’Tselem called on the International Criminal Court to investigate and prosecute those responsible for these crimes.
Israeli human rights attorney Eitay Mack believes the U.S. should do more to prevent human rights abuses in Israeli prisons. He suggests issuing sanctions against specific military units and enforcing the Leahy Law, which prohibits assistance to foreign security forces involved in gross human rights violations. However, the Biden administration has shown resistance to conditioning military aid to Israel.
Evidence of abuse at Sde Teiman and other prisons is just the latest revelation of abuses by the Israeli military. Despite this evidence, the U.S. has continued to fund Israel’s war on Gaza. The number of imprisoned Palestinians has nearly doubled since the war began, exacerbating issues of overcrowding and administrative detention.
The B’Tselem report highlighted firsthand accounts of severe violence, sexual assault, humiliation, and denial of medical treatment in Israeli prisons. The report alleged that these abuses are part of a systemwide policy implemented by Israeli government officials.
The recent arrests of soldiers involved in the gang rape case do not signal increased accountability within the government. They were seen as political decisions by the head military prosecutor. Right-wing protesters have disrupted hearings on the petition to close Sde Teiman, accusing advocates of being traitors.
Lawyers for the military argued that there are no longer any issues at Sde Teiman, as the prison population has been reduced and remaining prisoners are not security risks. However, Pelli argued that the conditions still violate international law and warned that the population could increase again at any point during the ongoing war.
