GAZA, (The Palestine Foundation Pakistan)
The Palestinian Journalists Protection Center (PJPC) said that a Palestinian journalist detained by Israeli occupation forces had been subjected to rape and sexual torture inside a detention center, carried out using a trained dog, resulting in severe psychological trauma that left him mentally unstable for more than two months, in what the center described as one of the most serious documented crimes against journalists inside Israeli prisons.
In a statement on Sunday, the center explained that the crime took place inside the Sde Teiman detention facility, after the journalist was forcibly dragged along with seven other detainees to an isolated area within the camp, where they were subjected to collective sexual assaults. Israeli soldiers were present during the assaults, with some deliberately filming the abuse and mocking the victims, who were fully restrained, blindfolded, and denied any form of legal or humanitarian protection.
According to the journalist’s account, he requested to be identified as “Yahya” to protect his family, the assault lasted around three minutes, after which he suffered a severe psychological and neurological breakdown that left him unable to concentrate or function normally for more than two months. These symptoms, according to physicians and human rights experts who reviewed the testimony, are consistent with acute stress disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
“Yahya,” who spent 20 months in Israeli custody, including three months in Sde Teiman and one month in Ofer Prison, said this crime was not an isolated incident, but part of a systematic torture policy aimed at breaking the will of detainees and humiliating them physically and psychologically. He noted that the occupation used dogs as direct instruments of torture, in a blatant violation of international conventions prohibiting torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.
He reported being subjected to harsh interrogations, during which he was bound, blindfolded, and transported in military vehciles to multiple detention sites, the most prominent being Sde Teiman, where he spent around 100 days under what he described as “inhumane” conditions. These included physical and psychological torture, sleep deprivation, starvation, religious insults, denial of medical care, and electric shocks.
The journalist confirmed that the sexual assault was one of the gravest crimes committed against him inside the detention facility, noting that the violations took place in isolated areas and in the presence of soldiers and officers, amid a total absence of oversight or accountability.
He further noted that the occupation authorities escalated their torture after learning of his profession as a journalist. He was assaulted after disclosing his work, accused of spreading “misleading information,” and threatened with life imprisonment because of his media activities.
In his testimony, he described the harsh detention conditions, including extreme overcrowding, lack of hygiene, the spread of disease, severe shortages of food and water, the prohibition of prayer, and degrading treatment, in addition to witnessing the deaths of detainees inside the facility, including academics and doctors, under mysterious circumstances. He said, “We spent the autumn and winter seasons wearing torn summer clothes, sleeping on the floor tiles.”
He added, “We entered these detention centers alive, and we left them with broken bodies and shattered souls, whoever didn’t die inside came out permanently broken.”
Israeli occupation forces had arrested “Yahya” during the raid on the al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City on March 18, 2024, while he was performing his journalistic duties wearing his press vest and carrying his camera.
For its part, the PJPC confirmed that what the journalist endured constitutes rape and sexual torture under the 1984 Convention Against Torture, a war crime under Article (8) of the Rome Statute, and a crime against humanity if proven systematic and repeated under Article (7). It also constitutes a grave violation of Common Article (3) of the Geneva Conventions, and a direct attack on journalists, who are protected civilians under international humanitarian law.
The center added that the use of dogs in sexual assault constitutes one of the most dangerous forms of torture prohibited under international law, aimed at total humiliation and psychological destruction of victims.
The center called for the crime to be included in the prosecution files before the International Criminal Court, the opening of an urgent and independent international investigation, prosecution of all those responsible under the principle of universal jurisdiction, and ensuring the provision of immediate medical and psychological treatment for the victims, as well as protection and legal safety for witnesses.
The center concluded that these crimes do not expire with time, and that the testimonies of Palestinian journalists represent accumulating evidence of a systematic torture policy inside Israeli prisons, necessitating international criminal accountability.
