Sexual violence against Palestinian detainees is systematic, not isolated: Analysis

Added: 2026-05-09

[00:00:00]Joining us now is Kifaya Crrame who's the advocacy unit manager for the Ramala based women's center for legal aid and counseling. She's joining us from the H.

[00:00:08]Thank you so much for your time. Uh a very harrowing report there and those details of abuse in Israeli detention centers. How widespread are these allegations of torture and sexual violence in these Israeli facilities and are these isolated incidents or part of a broader pattern?

[00:00:27]>> Well, thank you for having me. It's very widespread to be honest. Uh we have been able to do and we have interviewed over 75 women who were detained in separate centers, detention centers in Gaz, the West Bank and Jerusalem, police stations. All the women say the same thing about sexual violence including rape, um sexual torture, sexual humiliation and degradation. Uh all of these documentation that came from different women in different geographic areas has proved to us over and over again that it's systematic. It's not isolated incidents. It's not a lone wolf committing that. Uh women in Hebrin, one woman in Hebrin said that she was for example raped with an inspection device.

[00:01:08]We have the same testimony from you have also committed by female soldiers, Israeli female soldiers u being committed by different brigades in different areas has led us to believe that it's systematic. It's widespread.

[00:01:21]It's not isolated.

[00:01:23]>> Right. So I I know you deal with women mostly kaya but what about men? Uh because the the report we saw had testimony from from men. What kind of evidence have you been able to document about that? And have you observed any changes in the scale or nature of these abuses since the escalation of the war in Gaza?

[00:01:44]>> We have through diff our sister organizations that we have worked on the same documentation with men. We saw that rape uh for men was widespread as well including uh children of young boys have been raped in detention centers. Me myself I have interviewed um detainees um in offer prison and they all said that they were threatened with sexual violence and they were threatened with the rape of their family members, women family members including their daughters and their wives. Um we have one incident in which a couple was detained together.

[00:02:15]the husband was um in the room while they sexually assaulted his wife. Uh they tried to get a confession out of him but they were both released in three day for three days only. They were detained for 3 days. So it was nothing serious but he said that they sexually assaulted his wife in front of him threatening to rape her uh exposing themselves in front of her. And this is widespread on all detention centers.

[00:02:38]This is without mentioning checkpoints um that women and men go through on a daily basis in the West Bank. We have 900 checkpoints currently that women, men, boys and children all go through the checkpoints and they all say that they get sexually harassed including Israeli soldiers showing their genitals to school girls as well.

[00:02:56]>> Right. Many um survivors uh a speak of shame and fear even after their release.

[00:03:03]How how significant is this stigma surrounding sexual violence among Palestinian detainees particularly for the men? And and does that mean then that these cases are very often under reportported?

[00:03:18]>> Oh yes. Um there's social stigma like many other communities. But I think it's been getting better for the stigma in the Palestinian society. Many women and men are coming forward to speak and they're being more so accepted than before and I think this is due to the fact that it's becoming widespread. Uh the community is accepting and they're being uh supportive. But what's really scary is not the stigma. Uh it's the fear of retaliation. Israeli soldiers threaten directly threaten men and women who are released from detention centers.

[00:03:50]They say that if you speak about the sexual torture, the rape, the degrading treatment inside the prison, if you talk to the media, we have a lot of documentation on these threats. We are going to get you back in detention center and nobody wants to go back in there. This is one of the threats we also get like when uh detainees get on the media and talk about their experiences, they get phone calls from Israeli commanders threatening them not to speak to the media again. If you speak to the media again, you're coming back here. Uh we also need to remember that many detainees have other family members in detention centers that they threaten them with. If you speak, we're going to kill them. And you know that many people have died in prison. Over 80 um detainee main men have died in detention centers due to torture and starvation by Israeli forces.

[00:04:37]>> Right. Um this may be a rhetorical question um Kaya but are there any investigations any credible investigations by the Israeli authorities into these abuses? And do do you see any realistic pathway to justice for these victims?

[00:04:57]Israeli authorities have announced that they open investigations, but we have you I don't think they have any sort of credibility. It's the same system that tortures and rapes and degrades and humiliates and tortures is the same body that wants to have the investigation and that's why people have no faith in that.

[00:05:14]They don't report it to Israeli authorities. Um they see the same authorities that kills people on a regular basis and commits a genocide.

[00:05:21]Obviously, you're not going to be reporting any of the sexual violence that you endure in detention centers to them. Uh including the Sedate Man incident. Uh it was leaked to the media and that's why they said they opened an investigation and then they nothing happened after that. we um so nobody believes that they can get justice and accountability through that system and that's why it had made the Israeli soldiers who commit these crimes very arrogant that they take videos and pictures of their crimes and sexual torture and they post it online under the real names. This is what impunity look like and lack of accountability within the system.

[00:05:57]>> Thank you so much Kifaya for taking the time to speak to us about this very important story.

[00:06:02]Kareem, advocacy unit manager for the Ramala based women's center for legal aid and counseling. Thank you so much for your time.