New York, March 24 (Petra) -- The United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese, said on Tuesday that "systematic torture carried out by Israel against Palestinians has become a tool in the ongoing genocide in the occupied Palestinian territory." Albanese added in a report presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council that "since the beginning of the genocide, the Israeli prison system has deteriorated into a laboratory of calculated cruelty, and what used to happen in secrecy is now practiced openly: a system of humiliation, pain, and degradation in an organized manner, approved at the highest political levels." She said that policies imposed by senior officials, "including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir," have institutionalized torture, collective punishment, and inhumane detention conditions, adding that those responsible for these "horrific human rights violations must face investigation and justice, including before the International Criminal Court." Albanese warned that more than 18,500 Palestinians across the occupied Palestinian territory including at least 1,500 children have been detained since October 2023, with thousands still held without charges or trials.

She added that many have been forcibly disappeared, and nearly 100 people have died in detention, noting in the report that detainees were subjected to "unimaginable abuses, including rape with bottles, metal rods, and knives; starvation; breaking of bones and teeth; being spat on; attacked; and urinated on by dogs." The independent expert urged Israel to immediately halt all acts of torture and ill-treatment, allow access to international investigators and humanitarian organizations, and ensure accountability for those responsible until the occupation ends.

She said that United Nations member states must fulfill their legal obligations to prevent genocide, torture, and other violations and hold perpetrators accountable, including through investigations and arrest warrants, stressing that international law unequivocally prohibits torture without exception.

//Petra// AF