Joint Statement Calling on UN Member States to Take Urgent Steps to Protect People Deprived of Their Liberty Across the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel

We, the undersigned organizations, call on all UN Member States to take urgent steps to protect people deprived of their liberty across the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel.

This includes demanding that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is granted immediate and unfettered access to all detainees and hostages, to the full extent required by international humanitarian law. Full access must also be granted for independent human rights monitors, legal counsel, and family members.

All Palestinian children arbitrarily arrested and detained by the Israeli military must be released immediately and unconditionally, as must the remaining hostages[1] held by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups. No child should ever come into contact with a military court, or any court that lacks comprehensive fair trial rights and basic safeguards. No child should ever be abducted.

However, in the meantime, these steps would provide a vital protective presence and help ensure that children and adults detained and taken hostage are treated humanely, in accordance with their fundamental rights under international humanitarian law and international human rights law.

Detention of Palestinians by the Israeli military in the West Bank and Gaza

There has been a dramatic increase in the number of Palestinians detained by the Israeli military since October 7. Prior to October 7, approximately 5,000 Palestinians were in detention.[2] Around 10,000 people – including at least 650 children - have been detained since October 7 in the West Bank alone.[3]

It is well-documented that Palestinian children detained by the Israeli military face systematic abuse and ill-treatment[4], driven in part by the impunity granted to the Government of Israel by the international community. Over the last 10 months, violence has increased, conditions have deteriorated, and access to lawyers and family members has been curtailed[5]. Children have reported degrading treatment such as being strip searched and forced to imitate animals[6].

In Gaza, thousands of Palestinians have been rounded up and arbitrarily detained by Israeli forces since October 7.[7] This includes an unknown number of children[8] whose whereabouts are unknown and have in effect disappeared. Older persons, persons with disabilities, the injured and sick, and medical workers have also been detained[9].

The widespread and credible reports of their treatment are truly horrific and include practices that could amount to torture. For example:

• The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has documented extensive reports of torture and ill-treatment of Palestinian detainees, including physical and sexual violence - and including against children.[10]
• According to UN experts, at least 53 Palestinians have died in Israeli military custody.[11]
• 9 Israeli soldiers are under investigation, and one charged, for allegedly raping and attacking a Palestinian detainee, who suffered life-threatening injuries as a result.[12] According to Physicians for Human Rights Israel, “mounting testimonies indicate these incidents are not isolated. They suggest systematic abuse and violence, and a blind eye to violations.”[13]
• After conducting interviews with 55 Palestinians detained since October 7, B’Tselem identified a dozen Israeli prison facilities that “operate as de-facto torture camps.”[14]
• Palestinian children detained in Israeli-run prisons told Save the Children of increasing starvation, physical abuse and infectious disease, with some reporting sexual assaults and violent beatings.[15]
• UNRWA identified widespread reports of cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment against Palestinian detainees such as severe beatings, being forced into cages, being urinated on, and being forced to carry out humiliating acts.[16]

Hostages Held Captive by Palestinian Armed Groups

An estimated 115 Israeli and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including hostages who have been declared dead[17], having been seized by Palestinian armed groups during the October 7 attacks. Two child hostages remained in Gaza as of June 25, 2024.[18]

According to OHCHR, accounts from released hostages “describe violence and extremely harsh conditions of captivity” including beatings, sexual abuse, lack of food and water, and medical treatment without anaesthesia.[19] The UN Independent Commission of Inquiry reported it has "verified information on mistreatment and abuse of hostages held in Gaza."[20]

Access for the ICRC, Human Rights Monitors, Lawyers, and Family

Access for the ICRC to persons deprived of liberty is enshrined in the Third and Fourth      Geneva Conventions.[21] The Government of Israel, as a party to the conflict and Occupying Power, and Palestinian armed groups as parties to the conflict, must grant the ICRC access to all detainees and hostages to the full extent required by international humanitarian law.

The ICRC is a neutral actor uniquely placed to provide support and assistance to persons deprived of liberty in conflict settings. ICRC visits “aim at ensuring that the treatment detainees receive is in line with internationally recognized laws and standards and the principles of humanity”. This includes preventing torture and other forms of ill-treatment; preventing and resolving disappearances; improving conditions of detention; and restoring and maintaining family contact.

The Israeli Government has suspended all humanitarian visits by the ICRC to Palestinian detainees since October 7. Access for human rights monitors, lawyers, and family members has also been curtailed in the Israeli prison facilities for detainees from the West Bank and is almost non-existent for detainees from Gaza. The ICRC has also been denied access to visit Israeli and foreign national hostages in Gaza despite repeated requests to the Palestinian armed groups holding them.

This means that despite evidence of egregious human rights violations, including practices that could amount to torture, detainees and hostages lack any kind of protective presence to keep them safe and ensure their rights are upheld. We emphasise that all Palestinian children arbitrarily detained and the remaining hostages in Gaza must be released immediately and unconditionally, and the abusive Israeli military detention system must end. Until this happens, Member States must do everything in their power to protect people deprived of their liberty.

Signed:

1. Save the Children
2. Human Rights Watch
3. War Child
4. Christian Aid
5. Humanity & Inclusion/Handicap International (HI)
6. War on Want
7. Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights
8. World Organisation against Torture
9. Council for Arab-British Understanding
10. International Federation for Human Rights      
11. Welfare Association
12. HelpAge International      
13. SOS Children’s Villages UK
14. Plan International
15. Amos Trust
16. Oxfam
17. Age International
18. Physicians for Human Rights–Israel
19. Embrace the Middle East
20. KinderUSA
21. MedGlobal
22. Médecins du Monde International Network           
23. Action for Humanity
24. The Rights Forum
25. Churches for Middle East Peace
26. La Coordinadora de Organizaciones para el Desarrollo- Spain
27. Pax for Peace
28. CARE International
29. Kifaia
30. Bond
31. Terre des Hommes Italia