Palestinian prisoners’ rights organizations, along with a number of released prisoners, launched an international campaign on Tuesday to combat sexual violence against Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.
The press conference, held at the Al-Bireh Municipality Hall, was attended by representatives of prisoners’ rights organizations and human rights institutions, as well as several released prisoners who had been subjected to sexual violence, including rape, within Israeli prisons.
The organizations indicated that the campaign comes amidst an unprecedented escalation in crimes and violations committed by the Israeli prison system against prisoners, particularly since the genocide. Prisons have become open arenas for torture, starvation, humiliation, and physical and psychological violence, in addition to sexual violence crimes documented by the organizations through hundreds of testimonies and statements.
They emphasized that what is happening inside Israeli prisons cannot be considered individual violations or isolated incidents, but rather represents a systematic policy implemented by the occupation authorities through their various agencies. This policy aims to break the Palestinian spirit, humiliate Palestinians, and undermine their dignity, as part of a broader system of crimes committed against prisoners and the Palestinian people. Prisoner support organizations indicated that the campaign aims to break the barrier of silence imposed on victims by the nature of these crimes, to raise the voices of prisoners who have been subjected to sexual violence, to provide them with a safe space to disclose their experiences, and to transform these testimonies into a legal and rights-based path that leads to holding those responsible for these crimes accountable.
