In an open letter to Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, a rights group warns that the information base on which the government decided to suspend funds to the UN refuge agency, UNRWA, could have been obtained by use of torture at the hands of Israeli forces.
In late January, the United Kingdom and other major donor parties, such as the US and European Union, pulled their funding for the UN Palestinian refugee agency over claims that the UNRWA staffers were involved in Operation al-Aqsa Storm against Israel in October.
Human rights organization Freedom From Torture and Redress wrote to Sunak on Friday that the information “upon which the UK government acted, was obtained through torture.”
The group called on the prime minister to ensure that “the UK takes no receipt of, and makes no use of intelligence provided by Israel or other authorities where there is a real risk that it has been obtained by torture or other ill-treatment.”
They called on Sunak “to publicly repudiate reliance on intelligence material and/or ‘confessions’ obtained using torture”.
“We urge you to urgently call for independent monitors and lawyers to have access to Palestinians in Israeli detention facilities.”
BREAKING: The UK halted UNRWA funding based on information reportedly obtained through torture.
This would be a betrayal of the UK’s torture prevention duties
We wrote to the Prime Minister demanding URGENT action including review of the decision to suspend funding for UNRWA👇 pic.twitter.com/xoJcn7vgUE
— Freedom from Torture🧡 (@FreefromTorture) April 5, 2024
According to the UNRWA, its employees released into Gaza from Israeli detention were subject to “severe physical beatings, waterboarding, and threats of harm to family members” when they were held hostage by Israel.
The Freedom From Torture and Redress warned that the UK is at risk of breaching its obligations on the prevention of torture.
The UK is a party to Article 15 of the UN Convention Against Torture in which states should not use information that has been given through torture as evidence “in any proceedings.”
The UK rights group also warned that there’s a longstanding precedent of the use of torture by Israel against Palestinians.
It also highlighted the surge in arrests of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, as well as abuse by Israeli prison guards since the start of the regime’s war in Gaza in October 2023.
