Palestinian officials demand international investigation into alleged abuses at Sde Teiman base

In response to the storming of the Sde Teiman detention facility by a mob of right-wing activists last night, some Palestinian officials assert that the assault is evidence of the rising power of the far right in Israeli politics, and demand an independent international investigation into alleged abuses of security prisoners.

Veteran Palestinian politician Mustafa Barghouti says that “the attempt to prevent the investigation of Israeli prison guards and soldiers who perpetrated sexual crimes is evidence of the rise of fundamentalist Zionist fascism.”

The IDF is trying to protect itself from the International Criminal Court by conducting a formal investigation, but even that does not please “Israeli fascists,” the politician tells Ramallah’s Maan news agency.

Barghouti, who served in the past as a government minister and sits today in the Palestinian Legislative Council, adds that Palestinians do not trust Israeli military courts, and demands the formation of an international inquiry committee to investigate alleged crimes committed against Palestinian detainees.

His words are echoed by Qadura Fares, also a former minister who today heads the Palestinian Prisoners Club, who calls on the international community to “urgently intervene to stop Israel’s unprecedented crimes” against Palestinian detainees.

In a press release, Fares demands the formation of a UN investigation committee on the conditions under which Palestinian prisoners are detained, particularly at Sde Teiman, but also at other facilities where sexual assaults were allegedly perpetrated. The arrest by the Israeli military police of a number of soldiers is a “farce,” Fares adds, aimed at misleading international public opinion and giving the illusion that Israel is a country governed by the rule of law.