UN rights expert says global silence gave Israel licence to torture Palestinians
The Chronify
Francesca Albanese, the independent UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory, told the Human Rights Council that Israel has been given a “licence to torture Palestinians” and said torture has “effectively become state policy,” as she presented a new report titled Torture and genocide. In the report and an accompanying UN human rights statement, she argued that abuse is no longer limited to detention sites and has expanded into what she described as a wider “torturous environment” across Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Albanese said the report examines both custodial and non custodial practices since October 7, 2023, and argues that systematic torture has become embedded in Israeli policy. The UN human rights office quoted her as saying the Israeli prison system had become “a laboratory of calculated cruelty” and that organised humiliation, pain and degradation were being sanctioned at the highest political levels.
According to the report and the UN rights office summary, more than 18,500 Palestinians have been detained across the occupied Palestinian territory since October 2023, including at least 1,500 children. The same summary says thousands remain in detention without charge or trial, many have been forcibly disappeared, and nearly 100 detainees have died in custody.
Albanese urged states to “prevent and punish” torture and genocide, saying international law loses meaning if such acts are tolerated when committed against Palestinians. She also called for investigations and accountability, including before the International Criminal Court.
Israel rejected the report in strong terms. Its mission to the UN accused Albanese of abusing her platform, promoting antisemitic narratives, and backing extremist positions. The dispute fits a longer pattern of confrontation around her mandate. Over recent months, several Western governments and Israeli officials have pushed for her removal, while UN special procedures bodies have defended her independence and said efforts to discredit her were politically motivated.
Albanese is one of more than 80 independent experts appointed by the Human Rights Council. She does not speak for the UN Secretariat or for member states, but her reports often shape legal and diplomatic debate around the war and the occupation.
According to the report and the UN rights office summary, more than 18,500 Palestinians have been detained across the occupied Palestinian territory since October 2023, including at least 1,500 children. The same summary says thousands remain in detention without charge or trial, many have been forcibly disappeared, and nearly 100 detainees have died in custody.
Albanese urged states to “prevent and punish” torture and genocide, saying international law loses meaning if such acts are tolerated when committed against Palestinians. She also called for investigations and accountability, including before the International Criminal Court.
Israel rejected the report in strong terms. Its mission to the UN accused Albanese of abusing her platform, promoting antisemitic narratives, and backing extremist positions. The dispute fits a longer pattern of confrontation around her mandate. Over recent months, several Western governments and Israeli officials have pushed for her removal, while UN special procedures bodies have defended her independence and said efforts to discredit her were politically motivated.
Albanese is one of more than 80 independent experts appointed by the Human Rights Council. She does not speak for the UN Secretariat or for member states, but her reports often shape legal and diplomatic debate around the war and the occupation.
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