Stop the torture of Palestinian prisoners: Write to David Lammy

Demand our government takes action to end the abuse and torture of Palestinian detainees, including by ending all arms trade with Israel.

For decades Israel has arbitrarily arrested and detained hundreds of thousands of Palestinians as a tool of repression and control. Palestinian prisoners, including women and children, face systematic and widespread abuse - with Israel's leading human rights organisation, B'Tselem, describing the Israeli prison service as a network of torture camps.

Please take 2 minutes to email the foreign office to demand action to end this.

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<div>Dear Foreign Secretary,</div>
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<div><strong>RE: Britain must take action to end the torture and abuse of Palestinian detainees, including by stopping all arms trade with Israel. </strong></div>
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<div>UN experts last week <a href="https://www.un.org/unispal/document/israels-escalating-use-of-torture-un-experts-5aug24/">declared</a> that Israel’s escalating use of torture against Palestinians in custody is a crime against humanity. The UN’s <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/countries/opt/20240731-Thematic-report-Detention-context-Gaza-hostilities.pdf">documentation</a> of widespread systematic abuse is echoed by Israel’s leading human rights organisation, B’Tselem, who describe “the Israeli prison service as a network of torture camps” in their <a href="https://www.btselem.org/sites/default/files/publications/202408_welcome_to_hell_summary_eng.pdf">latest report</a>.</div>
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<div>For decades, Israel has arbitrarily arrested and detained hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from all walks of life as a means of repression and control. <a href="https://www.un.org/unispal/document/israels-escalating-use-of-torture-un-experts-5aug24/">UN Special Rapporteurs</a> have referred to these detainees as “de facto hostages of an unlawful occupation”. On 19th July 2024, the International Court of Justice found that Israel’s occupation of Palestine is unlawful, and that Israel is in violation of the prohibition on racial segregation and apartheid. The systematic incarceration of Palestinians is a brutal feature of Israel’s occupation and apartheid, which Britain has a legal and moral obligation to actively oppose. This includes by ending all arms trade with Israel to ensure Britain is not complicit in sustaining this illegal situation.</div>
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<div>Virtually every Palestinian family has had a relative detained at some time, with roughly 40% of all men having experienced prison. Since October, Israel has dramatically escalated the volume of arrests and the level of abuse against prisoners.</div>
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<div>Last week, leaked footage showed Israeli prison guards raping a Palestinian prisoner at the Sde Teiman detention facility, leaving the victim hospitalised with severe injuries. Shockingly, the response within Israel has been to rally behind the prison guards who committed this horrific crime - with media figures and high-level politicians inciting further violence and abuse against Palestinian detainees.</div>
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<div>This case is far from being an isolated incident, but reflects the systematic abuse of prisoners as a policy purposefully implemented. There are countless testimonials of detainees kept in cage-like enclosures, tied to beds blindfolded and in diapers, stripped naked, deprived of adequate healthcare, food, water and sleep, and being subjected to electrocutions, blackmail, and cigarette burns. Victims have also spoken of loud music played until their ears bled, attacks by dogs, waterboarding, suspension from ceilings and severe sexual and gender-based violence. Reports from <a href="https://www.dci-palestine.org/arbitrary_by_default">Defense for Children International-Palestine</a> and <a href="https://www.savethechildren.org.uk/news/media-centre/press-releases/palestinian-children-in-detention-report-increased-violence">Save the Children</a> highlight that children are also victims of widespread abuse and mistreatment in Israeli detention centres.</div>
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<div>The torture and mistreatment of Palestinian prisoners is widely documented, with Israel’s arbitrary incarceration practices being used to maintain an illegal occupation and system of apartheid. Britain must bring every possible pressure to bear on Israel to end this systematic torture, and has no excuses for continuing to allow arms trade with a country committing these crimes.</div>

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Stop the torture of Palestinian prisoners: Write to David Lammy