Israeli forces have been publishing degrading photographs and videos of detained Palestinians, including children, a form of inhumane treatment and an outrage on their personal dignity that amount to war crimes, Human Rights Watch said today.
In many cases, detainees were stripped of their clothing, sometimes fully, then photographed or filmed, with the images published by Israeli soldiers, media outlets, or activists. Forced nudity followed by capturing and sharing sexualized images on social media is a form of sexual violence and also a war crime.
“Israeli authorities have for months turned a blind eye as members of their military published dehumanizing fully or seminude images and videos of Palestinians in their custody,” said
Balkees Jarrah, acting Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Senior officials and military commanders can be held criminally responsible for ordering these crimes, or for failing to prevent or punish them, including at the International Criminal Court.”
Israeli military officials have
publicly denounced some of their members for publishing images of the detainees, but as far as Human Rights Watch has been able to determine, the government has not publicly condemned the underlying treatment of Palestinian detainees depicted in the images. Judicial authorities have not announced any prosecutions for these crimes. On July 15, Human Rights Watch
wrote to the Public Diplomacy Office of the Israeli military but has not received a response
