International
Amnesty International denounces torture and arbitrary arrests by Israel to the Gazats
Amnesty International (AI) released on Thursday a report in which it denounced torture and detentions of Palestinians incommunicadome by Israel, and called on the authorities to release “immediately” the detainees arbitrarily.
“The Israeli authorities must put an end to the indefinite detention incommunicado of Palestinians from the occupied Gaza Strip, without charges or trial, under the Law on Illegitimate Combatants, in flagrant violation of international law,” the organization demands in a press release.
The Army invoked this law, enacted in 2002, for the first time in five years to arrest alleged participants in the October 7 attacks, but shortly thereafter expanded its use “to detain Palestinians in Gaza en masse without charges or trial,” the organization denounces.
AI interviewed 27 people arrested and released later – five women, 21 men and a 14-year-old teenager – and all of them reported having been subjected to torture and other ill-treatment.
Through the Law on the Detention of Illegitimate Combatants, the Army has no obligation to issue an arrest warrant against the individual, to whom the rule denies access to legal assistance for up to 90 days, also encoding detention in isolation, which facilitates torture.
The detainees do not receive the evidence that justifies their arrest, nor does the lawyer who assists them, which leads many to remain imprisoned for months “without the slightest idea” of why they are detained – which is a violation of international law -, “completely isolated from their family and loved ones, and without means to challenge the reasons for their arrest,” according to Amnesty International.
Nor can they communicate with their family, as a health worker told the organization, according to which not knowing if their family was alive or dead in Gaza was “even worse than torture and hunger.”
In December, Israel amended the law to extend the time of captivity without a detention warrant of Palestinians from the original 96 hours (extendable up to seven days) to a maximum of 45 days. The maximum deprivation of liberty until appearing before a judicial authority went from 14 to 75 days, and the imprisonment without legal assistance went from 21 days to 6 months, then reduced to 3.
Of those interviewed, eight showed marks and bruises compatible with torture, and the medical reports of two people corroborated the reports of torture.
In addition, Amnesty International has verified five videos of mass arrests, having filmed in some of them people in underwear after being arrested in northern Gaza and Jan Yunis (south).
According to the organization, “public nakedness forced for prolonged periods violates the prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment and constitutes sexual violence.”
Some of the most explicit cases were recorded in the prison of Sde Teiman, in southern Israel. The prisoners locked up there reported having been forced to stay for hours in tense positions, and were forbidden to talk to other prisoners or raise their heads.
A 14-year-old boy from Yabalia (northern Gaza) remained in this prison for 24 days locked in a barracks with at least 100 adult detainees.
The minor reported having received kicks and punches in the neck, and that the captors had “repeatedly burned him with cigarette butts,” something that the organization verified when observing burns and bruises when interviewing him.
Among the interviewees were five women who were detained in isolation for more than 50 days.
One of them told how, after three weeks in Damon prison (northern Israel), she was told that she was going to be released. “They handcuffed her, blindfolded her, put shackles on her feet and took her to another place.”
There, the military tore her clothes with a knife and subjected her to “a violent naked body search,” and then she was taken for 18 more days to the Anatot prison (near Jerusalem).
International
Man arrested after deliberately driving into seven children in Osaka
Japanese police arrested a man on Thursday after he rammed his car into a group of seven schoolchildren in an apparent deliberate attack in the city of Osaka.
The children, who were on their way home from school, sustained injuries and were taken to the hospital. All seven remained conscious, according to local authorities.
An Osaka police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the suspect is a 28-year-old man from Tokyo. The officer shared statements the man made after his arrest: “I was fed up with everything, so I decided to kill people by driving into several elementary school children,” the suspect reportedly said.
The man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.
The injured children, aged between seven and eight, included a seven-year-old girl who suffered a fractured jaw. The six other children—all boys—suffered minor injuries such as bruises and scratches and were undergoing medical evaluation.
Witnesses described the car as “zigzagging” before hitting the children. One witness told Nippon TV that a girl was “covered in blood” and the others appeared to have scratches.
Another witness said the driver, who was wearing a face mask, looked to be in shock when school staff pulled him from the vehicle.
Violent crimes are rare in Japan, though serious incidents do occur from time to time. In 2008, Tomohiro Kato drove a two-ton truck into pedestrians in Tokyo’s Akihabara district, then fatally stabbed several victims. Seven people were killed in that attack.
Internacionales
Clashes erupt during may day protests across France amid calls for better wages
May Day protests in France were marked by a heavy police presence and clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement in several cities.
In Paris, Lyon, and Nantes, thousands took to the streets to demand better wages, fairer working conditions, and to voice their dissatisfaction with President Emmanuel Macron’s government.
While the majority of the demonstrations remained peaceful, isolated confrontations broke out in some areas. Protesters threw objects at the police, prompting the use of tear gas and resulting in several arrests.
Videos showing police crackdowns circulated widely on social media, drawing criticism from labor unions and human rights advocates, who denounced the authorities’ response to the protests.
International
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem claimed that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has deported “more than half a million” migrants due to pressure from former President Donald Trump.
During a cabinet meeting highlighting the “achievements” of Trump’s administration in its first 100 days, Noem asserted that under the Republican leader’s influence, “Mexico has finally come to the table” to negotiate on migration and fentanyl trafficking.
“The president of Mexico told me she has returned just over half a million people before they reached our border,” Noem stated, criticizing media reports that suggest the Biden administration deported more migrants than Trump’s.
“I wish those deportations were counted,” Noem added, “because those people never made it to our border—she sent them back because you made her.” She went on to thank Trump: “They never made it here because they got the message—because you were so aggressive.”
Noem has made controversial claims about Sheinbaum in the past, prompting the Mexican leader to refute them.
On April 1, Sheinbaum responded to one such statement by declaring, “The president answers to only one authority, and that is the people of Mexico,” after Noem said on Fox News that she gave Sheinbaum “a list of things Trump would like to see” and that Mexico’s actions would determine whether Trump granted tariff relief.
Man arrested after deliberately driving into seven children in Osaka
Clashes erupt during may day protests across France amid calls for better wages
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
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