UN experts demands release of Gaza doctor Abu Safiya after 'severe torture'
Two United Nations experts have called on Israel to immediately release Palestinian doctor Hussam Abu Safiya from detention following reports that he had been subjected to "severe torture".
Special Rapporteurs Tlaleng Mofokeng and Ben Saul said on Tuesday that the former director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in north Gaza faced severe torture and "other cruel and degrading treatment", leaving him in a "dire" health condition.
“The conditions of his detention appear to be flagrantly arbitrary and manifestly inconsistent with the Mandela Rules, which establish the obligation of states to ensure prisoners have access to healthcare," they added.
The Nelson Mandela Rules are a set of standards unanimously adopted by the UN General Assembly in late 2015 to ensure a fair and humane treatment of detainees.
Abu Safiya, who was abducted from Gaza and detained in late December 2024, has reportedly faced abuse and mistreatment in Israeli detention.
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The former hospital director also suffers from serious ailments - including severe scabies and heart problems - according to Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI). Requests to receive treatments have been denied.
Since his arrest, the Palestinian doctor has lost around 25kg, PHRI noted during its visit to Abu Safiya in September.
“He has been systematically denied critical medical examination and treatment, and deprived of essential care to such an extent that his life, health, and wellbeing have been gravely endangered,” Mofokeng and Saul said.
Moreover, the two indicated that all states have an international obligation to protect healthcare workers, adding that wounded and sick individuals must be cared for while they remain in custody.
'Arbitrary deprivation of liberty'
Palestinian detainees have reported widespread and severe mistreatment in Israeli custody since 7 October 2023, abuses that leading rights groups describe as systematic crimes.
Reports detail starvation, medical neglect, physical violence, humiliation, sexual assault, theft and unprecedented levels of mass solitary confinement.
Scores of doctors, healthcare workers and emergency responders have been reportedly targeted and arbitrarily detained by Israel, many of whom were seized while carrying out their duties in hospitals.
“Violence against healthcare workers, destruction of health facilities, and underlying determinants of health continue unabated despite a so-called ceasefire in Gaza,” the experts said.
Despite being a civilian doctor, Abu Safiya has been categorised as an "unlawful combatant" under Israeli law, which means there is no formal indictment against him.
The two UN experts stressed in their statement that the law "violates human rights and humanitarian law"
Rights groups have described this legislation as a flagrant violation of international law. It allows Israeli authorities to detain individuals without a court order or access to legal representation as well as withhold information about their whereabouts and conditions.
“As Israel’s prisoner, Dr Abu Safiya, a highly respected Palestinian medical administrator and paediatrician, has suffered an arbitrary deprivation of liberty, violation of his human rights, including the right of every human being to be free from torture and ill treatment, and his right to health is being eroded,” the experts said.
The experts urged the international community to pressure Israel into ending the doctor's torment.
The special rapporteurs, who have been in contact with the Israeli government on the matter, further demanded that Israel must release all medical workers and ensure their access to appropriate care.
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