A new report by Francesca Albanese, the UN’s special rapporteur, details “exceptionally ruthless” abuse since the start of the Gaza war, calling it part of a “systematic” campaign that amounts to “collective vengeance.”
A United Nations expert has released a damning report accusing Israel of systematically torturing Palestinians in custody on a scale that suggests a state policy of “collective vengeance and destructive intent.”
In a report released on Friday, Francesca Albanese, the UN’s special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, detailed how Palestinians detained since October 7, 2023, have been “subjected to exceptionally ruthless physical and psychological abuse.”
Titled Torture and Genocide, the report examines what it describes as Israel’s systematic use of torture against Palestinians from the occupied territories. It claims that “torture in detention has been used on an unprecedented scale as punitive collective vengeance” in the wake of the Hamas-led attacks that triggered Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
“Brutal beatings, sexual violence, rape, lethal mistreatment, starvation, and the systematic deprivation of the most basic human conditions have inflicted profound and lasting scars on the bodies and minds of tens of thousands of Palestinians and their loved ones,” the report states.
According to Albanese, torture has become “integral to the domination of and punishment inflicted on men, women and children,” manifesting not only through custodial abuse but also through “a relentless campaign of forced displacement, mass killings, deprivation and destruction of all means of life to inflict long-term collective pain and suffering.”
‘A Regime of Systemic Humiliation’
The report is based on written submissions, including at least 300 testimonies from survivors, families, and legal advocates. While the accompanying statement noted that Albanese “unequivocally condemns torture and other forms of ill-treatment committed by all actors, including Palestinian armed groups,” the report focuses squarely on Israeli conduct.
Israel is a party to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
Albanese reported that arrests of Palestinians in the occupied territory have “escalated dramatically” since October 2023, with more than 18,500 people detained, including at least 1,500 children. The report estimates that approximately 9,000 Palestinians remain in detention, while “more than 4,000 have been subjected to enforced disappearance.”
She asserted that Israel’s detention system “has descended into a regime of systemic and widespread humiliation, coercion, and terror.”
Call for ICC Action and International Intervention
Albanese urged Israel to “immediately cease all acts of torture and ill-treatment of the Palestinian people as part of its ongoing genocide.” She called on all countries “to do everything in their power to stop the destruction of what remains of Palestine,” warning that every delay “worsens irreversible harm and further entrenches a system of cruelty.”
In a significant escalation of her previous calls for accountability, Albanese urged the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to request arrest warrants for three senior Israeli officials: Defense Minister Israel Katz, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
Albanese is scheduled to present her findings to the UN Human Rights Council on Monday. Although appointed by the council, special rapporteurs are independent experts and do not speak on behalf of the UN itself.
Controversy and Criticism
Albanese has faced sustained criticism from Israel and some of its allies over her longstanding accusations that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Israel has accused her of pursuing an “obsessive, hate-driven agenda to delegitimise the state of Israel.”
Last month, France and Germany called for her resignation following controversy over remarks she made at an Al Jazeera forum in Doha. The criticism was fueled by an edited video clip circulated by UN Watch, a Geneva-based NGO not affiliated with the UN, which falsely accused her of calling Israel “the common enemy of humanity.”
In the unedited exchange, Albanese’s actual words were: “We now see that we as a humanity have a common enemy and the respect of fundamental freedoms is the last peaceful avenue, the last peaceful toolbox that we have to regain our freedom.”
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