In detailing these allegations, the allegations of torture alone, including physical and psychological
torture, were (366) allegations, (262) in the Gaza Strip and (104) in the West Bank. As for the
allegations of ill-treatment, they were (326) allegations, (235) in the Gaza Strip and (127) in the
West Bank.
The patterns of torture and ill-treatment were in the form of beating. This included severe beating,
beating on sensitive organs, falaqa (beating the soles of the feet using a stick or a plastic hose).
Torture also included shabeh (stretching) for long hours, torture with water, “spraying cold water
on the victim,” and denial of sleep for long hours. Other forms of torture also included threats,
threatening with harm for the family, cursing and insulting and insults to God, solitary
confinement, putting out cigarettes on the body and limbs of the victim, spraying pepper gas,
especially at the moment of arrest and electrocuting.
The Commission did not receive any responses to its communications regarding cases of
accountability of those involved in torture and ill-treatment, allegedly committed by the security
services, namely the General Police Service in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the Internal
Security Apparatus in Gaza. Additionally, the Commission did not receive any responses to its
correspondence, in this regard, concerning the Military Public Prosecution, the Military Judiciary,
and the Civilian Public Prosecution.
In order to guarantee the right not to be subjected to torture and ill-treatment, the Commission
recommends enacting a law against torture and ill-treatment in line with the Convention Against
Torture. The recommended law should include at least a definition of torture and specify cases of
ill-treatment and criminalizes them with deterrent penalties, including removal from office. The
law should also ensure fair compensation for victims and the provision of mental health care to
them. There is a need for the civil public prosecution and the regular judiciary to prosecute the
security forces involved in torture and ill-treatment. Furthermore, there is a need to expedite the
establishment of the national mechanism for the prevention of torture, based on the Optional
Protocol to the Convention Against Torture to which the State of Palestine acceded in 2017. This
should ensure the independence of the mechanism from the official authorities. There is also a
need to bring the detainees before the civil medical authorities, which in turn must adhere to the
ethics of the medical profession and provide detainees with medical reports on their physical
health, independently and professionally. If doctors breach their job duties and ethics of the
medical profession, there will be a need for accountability.
The third subject: The Right to Freedom and Personal Security
The Commission received (320) complaints about violations to the right to freedom and personal
security, of which (267) complaints were in the West Bank and (53) others in the Gaza Strip. These
complaints included allegations of violations to the right to freedom and personal safety.
The Commission documented (299) cases of arbitrary detention of the total violations of the right
to freedom and personal security. Of these violations, (255) are in the West Bank and (44) in the
Gaza Strip, of these cases (47), of which (42) in the West Bank and (5) in the Gaza Strip, including