The General Union of Palestinian Women (GUPW) has issued a strong call for the formation of an independent international commission to investigate alleged abuses and torture within Israeli prisons. The organization urges that the United Nations oversee this crucial fact-finding mission.
In a statement released Wednesday, the GUPW emphasized the urgent need for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to be granted immediate and unrestricted access to all prisons and detention centers. This access, they stated, must include the ability to meet with detainees, both male and female, in complete freedom and without any form of censorship.
The GUPW highlighted that their call stems from mounting testimonies revealing systematic crimes committed within Israeli prisons, purportedly aimed at humiliation and the deliberate undermining of morale. These actions, the Union asserts, constitute blatant violations of international humanitarian law, the Geneva Conventions, the Convention against Torture, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
“These violations not only affect Palestinian prisoners but also strike at the dignity of humanity as a whole,” the statement declared. The GUPW criticized the international community’s silence, arguing it implies complicity and tacit approval of these ongoing abuses.
Furthermore, the GUPW extended a direct invitation to the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General for Sexual Violence to urgently visit the occupied Palestinian territories, including the Gaza Strip. The Union requests that she meet with victims, both women and men, to hear their testimonies firsthand, paving the way for a formal report to the Security Council.
In closing, the GUPW underscored the imperative to hold Israel accountable for its alleged crimes and to ensure that soldiers involved face prosecution and do not enjoy impunity. The Union also called for the activation of mechanisms within the Human Rights Council and the Committee Against Torture, urging the international community and Arab and global women’s organizations to stand in solidarity with Palestinian female prisoners and to loudly condemn and immediately halt what they described as racist and barbaric practices.
