'Insane Torture': Israeli Soldiers Confirm Horrific Abuse of Palestinians at Sde Teiman

An Israeli newspaper on Friday published interviews with Israel Defense Forces reservists and medical staff who witnessed the "day-to-day torture" of Palestinian prisoners at the notorious Sde Teiman prison in the Negev Desert, where dozens of detainees have died and others were allegedly raped.

The Israelis described seeing torture and abuse of Palestinians detained in Sde Teiman, who included everyone from Hamas fighters to innocent civilians, and ranged in age from children to octogenarians.

"We said, 'It's torture.' But you don't get into it; you change the subject immediately."

"What's happening there is total dehumanization. You don't really relate to them as if they're real human beings," said one public hospital physician who worked at Sde Teiman. "In the end it's no less than torture. There are ways to administer even poor treatment, or even to torture a person, without crushing cigarettes on them."

One female former medical staffer said that "the place was totally unimaginable, I had never considered anything like it."

"My first thought was: What have I done?" she said, describing prisoners being forced to relieve themselves in diapers and take their meals through straws.

"The conditions there were described as torture," she added. "Maybe. In many senses, yes, I agree with that. Maybe even insane torture."

A 37-year-old male reservist said some of the worst abuse was committed by members of Force 100, the unit of the nine Israelis recently arrested for allegedly gang-raping a Sde Teiman prisoner.

"They took... guys aside and really laid into them," he said. "I think that each time teeth were broken, bones were broken... And there was also a dog."

Former Sde Teiman prisoners have described dogs attacking and performing "vile acts" on them.

Another IDF reservist said that "when you come to the camp, the first thing that hits you is the smell... of dozens of people who have been sitting in close quarters for more than a month in the same clothes and in insane heat."

"They let them shower for a few minutes around twice a week, but I don't remember ever seeing that they gave them a change of clothes, in any case not on my shifts," he added.

The Haaretz interviewees said that much of the abuse occurred in the open.

"It wasn't something that was done in the dark," the 37-year-old reservist said. "Everyone saw what was going on... It's not something that was done behind the back of the commander of the camp."

"Most of the guys were just fine with what was happening," he continued. "There were some who were a little bothered by it, and there were others who were bothered by it at the start and then they toed the line with the system."

"There were people who in conversations suddenly mentioned the word 'torture,'" he added. "And then we said, 'It's torture.' But you don't get into it; you change the subject immediately."

Some of those interviewed by Haaretz expressed misgivings about what they did or saw at Sde Teiman.

"When I was there, I wrestled with myself about whether to stay on and try to do the right thing, the best I could as a moral person, or whether I should just get up and declare that I refused to take part in it," said one male reservist and student. "I came out with a heavy feeling of guilt."

Another reservist said, "The more distance I have from the place, the more my eyes have opened up."

"What most disturbed me was to see how easily and how quickly ordinary people can disconnect themselves and not see the reality right in front of their eyes when they're in the midst of a shocking human situation," he added.

There were also rare moments of mercy.

"Sometimes the military police gave the minors candy, like in the evening, before sleep," the 37-year-old reservist said. "One time a detainee started to cry. He was older, 60 years old. So the duty officer tried to speak to him and cheer him up a little."

But more often, guards were "filled with rage," said one reservist, who added that "there's a desire for revenge."

"What most disturbed me was to see how easily and how quickly ordinary people can disconnect themselves and not see the reality right in front of their eyes."

One reservist said that "there was a female officer who gave us a briefing on the day we arrived. She said, 'It will be hard for you. You'll want to pity them, but it's forbidden. Remember that they aren't people."

"You notice how easy it is to lose your humanity in a second, how easy it is to come up with justifications for treating people as if they're not people," he added.

One 27-year-old female reservist said that upon arriving at Sde Teiman—where she was welcomed with popcorn and cotton candy—she was alarmed to find that "good people whom I know talked about being cruel and abusive to people, like they were talking about something routine."

"The dehumanization frightened me," she said. "I couldn't understand how a group of young people who were around me every day underwent such a dangerous process in such a short time."

Another reservist said that some Sde Teiman staff—especially the volunteers—were "sadists" who "really enjoy beating up Arabs."

The Haaretz interviews add to a growing body of evidence of torture and other war crimes perpetrated by Israelis against Palestinian prisoners at Sde Teiman and other lockups.

Former Palestinian detainees and Israeli personnel have described beatings, rape and sexual torture by male and female soldiers, routine amputations due to constant shackling, burnings, electrocutions, attacks by dogs, ice-water dousings, denial of food and water, sleep deprivation, constant loud music, and other abuse.

The Israeli military is investigating the deaths of at least 36 Sde Teiman detainees, including one who died after allegedly being sodomized with an electric baton.

On Friday, Alice Jill Edwards, the United Nations special rapporteur on torture, said that "there are no circumstances in which sexual torture or sexualized inhuman and degrading treatment can be justified."

"I am troubled by recent attempts by Israeli citizens—including reportedly one member of Parliament—to intervene violently after the arrests of soldiers on these abuse charges," she said of the recent storming of Sde Teiman and another base by a far-right mob in response to the arrests of the alleged rapists.

"Criminal proceedings into all allegations must proceed unhindered," Edwards added. "No one is above the law. No one is immune from prosecution for torture."