UN says Palestinian detainees subjected to mistreatment

GENEVA — The UN human rights office issued a report on Wednesday saying Palestinians detained by Israeli authorities since the Oct 7 attacks faced waterboarding, sleep deprivation, electric shocks, the release of dogs and other forms of torture and mistreatment.

The report said Israel's prison service held more than 9,400 "security detainees" as of the end of June, and some have been held in secret without access to lawyers or respect for their legal rights.

A summary of the report, based on interviews with former detainees and other sources, decried a "staggering" number of detainees, including men, women, children, journalists and human rights defenders, and said such practices raise concerns about arbitrary detention.

Often, they were blindfolded and shackled before being transported to Israel and placed in "cage-like" military centers and forced to wear nothing but diapers for prolonged periods, it said. The report said 53 detainees died in custody.

Agencies via Xinhua