"We were all handcuffed and we sat on a pebbly ground. We weren't given any food, and when we asked for water they poured it over us. The handcuffs were tight and when the blindfolds were taken off on our arrival I saw some people with hands black and swollen." Testimony of Majdi Shehadeh arrested on 8 March 2002 in Tulkarem.
"More than 8,500 Palestinians have been arrested between 27 February and 20 May, many of them arbitrarily detained. These arrests and detentions were accompanied by a consistent pattern of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and sometimes torture," Amnesty International said in a report released today. The report "Mass detention in cruel, inhuman and degrading conditions" documents how detainees were humiliated and detained for days without charge, access to a court, their lawyer or families.
"We call on the Israeli authorities to set up a commission of inquiry and to bring those responsible for ill-treatment of detainees to justice."
Most of the 2500 detainees arrested during February and March were released within a week, whereas many of the more than 6000 detainees arrested during Operation Defensive Shield after 29 March were held in prolonged incommunicado detention.
"More than 8,500 Palestinians have been arrested between 27 February and 20 May, many of them arbitrarily detained. These arrests and detentions were accompanied by a consistent pattern of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and sometimes torture," Amnesty International said in a report released today. The report "Mass detention in cruel, inhuman and degrading conditions" documents how detainees were humiliated and detained for days without charge, access to a court, their lawyer or families.
"We call on the Israeli authorities to set up a commission of inquiry and to bring those responsible for ill-treatment of detainees to justice."
Most of the 2500 detainees arrested during February and March were released within a week, whereas many of the more than 6000 detainees arrested during Operation Defensive Shield after 29 March were held in prolonged incommunicado detention.