Palestinian abductee subjected to torture before release in critical condition: Rights groups

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) and the Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Commission say that a Palestinian abductee was subjected to severe torture inside Israeli prison cells before his release in critical condition.

The PPS and the Commission reported in a joint statement on Sunday that Mahmoud Hassan al-Wardian, 38, from Bethlehem, was abducted on August 18 with his father and several other Palestinians as part of a wide-scale abduction campaign in the governorate.

Al-Wardian was transferred to Ofer Prison following his abduction. Legal follow-up on his case indicated that Israeli authorities barred him from meeting his lawyer during the entire period of his detention, which was repeatedly extended to complete the so-called investigations.

On August 25, al-Wardian was transferred from Ofer Prison to Israel’s Hadassah Medical Center in critical condition, unconscious, and placed in the intensive care unit, despite having no prior health issues before his abduction.

On September 11, a sudden decision was issued to release him due to the severity of his health condition.

He was then transferred directly to the intensive care unit at the Arab Society Hospital in Bethlehem, where he remained in critical condition.

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According to medical reports issued after his release, al-Wardian suffers from brain damage caused by severe oxygen deprivation.

He also sustained bilateral rib fractures, bruises, and contusions around the neck, superficial wounds on the wrists and left hand, as well as scattered bruises on the right knee, lower left leg, and right ear.

In a statement, the PPS and the Commission affirmed that the Israeli occupation forces committed a compounded crime against al-Wardian, beginning from the moment of his abduction, through his transfer for investigation. This included the denial of access to a lawyer, and repeated extensions of his abduction under the pretext of completing investigations, and torture.

The statement noted that al-Wardian had been a frequent target of repeated abductions over the years, most of them under the so-called “administrative detention” policy, under which Palestinian detainees can be held without trial and their detention can be extended repeatedly. 

They held the Israeli occupation fully responsible for the crime committed against al-Wardian, describing it as a new link in the chain of massive crimes carried out by the occupation over decades, which reached its peak with the onset of the genocidal war on October 7, 2023.

The statement warned that since the start of the genocidal war, the systematic torture of thousands of abductees has reached unprecedented levels, with no one spared from practices that violate international law and norms, as the occupation continues to devise new methods and tools for continued torture.

They condemned the ongoing international silence over the occupation’s crimes against Palestinian abductees, calling it an assault on humanity as a whole.

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