Testimony of freed Palestinian prisoners

Testimony of recently freed Palestinian captive Khaled Barakat from Sde Teiman prison camp, as documented by the Palestinian Center for Prisoners’ Rights:

– “I spent 130 days in the camp blindfolded, with my hands and feet shackled, and police dogs attacked us daily.” 

– “We were held in metal cages, each containing 130 detainees. We were monitored every minute, and any suspicion of a spontaneous movement meant nonstop beatings and insults.”

– “Israeli soldiers broke my ribs and the ribs of several other prisoners due to the intensity of the torture. Until the moment of my release, I was never seen by a doctor, and the pain continues because the bones healed improperly.”

– “One of the hardest things we faced was that we were allowed to use the bathroom only once a day at best, and we had to relieve ourselves while shackled and restrained.”

– “There were surveillance cameras everywhere, and we had to use a bucket to relieve ourselves, which they refused to empty until its contents overflowed into the prisoners’ rooms.”

– “I was transferred between several detention sites, and in Ofer Prison I was subjected to continuous torture and beatings for days. We were taken out one by one to be severely beaten with sticks and sharp tools.”

– “There was a diabetic prisoner with us who was beaten repeatedly. After days of his foot becoming infected, worms began coming out of it; they transferred him to the hospital, and he returned days later with his foot amputated.”

– “Dogs attacked us before entering the prison, and we were subjected to electric shocks during transport. Inside the bus, soldiers beat us with metal handles the entire way.”

– “The prison administration took away the mattresses we slept on during winter, and we had no winter clothing. Most of the prisoners were infected with scabies.”

– “The Red Cross never visited us during the entire period of detention. We were threatened with being killed after our release, and soldiers repeatedly told us they had bombed our homes and killed our families.”