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
Erin brings strong winds and storm surge despite weakening offshore
Hurricane Erin weakened to a Category 2 storm on Tuesday but continues to pose a threat to parts of the U.S. East Coast with potentially dangerous flooding, according to meteorologists.
Although the hurricane’s eye is expected to remain offshore, experts are concerned about Erin’s size, as strong winds extend hundreds of kilometers beyond the storm’s center.
In its 18:00 GMT bulletin, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) lifted tropical storm warnings for the Bahamasand Turks and Caicos Islands, but kept them in effect for parts of North Carolina.
Erin was located several hundred kilometers southeast of North Carolina and was moving northwestward.
“This means there is a risk of potentially life-threatening flooding of 60 to 120 centimeters above ground level,” said NHC Director Michael Brennan.
He also warned of the possibility of destructive waves, combined with storm surge, that could cause severe damage to beaches and coastal areas, making roads impassable.
International
Three U.S. Warships deploy near Venezuela to combat drug trafficking
Three U.S. naval vessels are moving toward the coasts of Venezuela, according to international media reports on Tuesday, after White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt confirmed that President Donald Trump is ready to combat and curb international drug trafficking.
Reports indicate that the ships will reach Venezuelan waters within the next 36 hours as part of a recent U.S. deployment aimed at countering international narcotics operations.
The announcement coincides with Leavitt’s statement that Trump is prepared to “use the full extent of his power” to halt drug flows into the United States. The naval deployment involves approximately 4,000 military personnel.
“The President has been clear and consistent. He is ready to use every element of U.S. power to prevent drugs from flooding our country and to bring those responsible to justice. The Maduro regime is not the legitimate government of Venezuela—it is a narco-terror cartel,” the spokesperson said during a press conference.
International
Cuban authorities free salvadoran convicted in 1997 hotel bombing
Salvadoran national Otto René Rodríguez Llerena was released after serving a 30-year prison sentence for his involvement in a terrorist attack at a hotel in Cuba in 1997, the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported.
During his trial, Rodríguez Llerena admitted to placing an explosive device at the Meliá Cohiba Hotel under the orders of anti-Castro exile leaders. He was arrested the following year when he returned to Havana with another load of explosives that failed to detonate.
“The Cuban government reiterates its commitment to combating terrorism, respecting human rights, and the need for the international community to hold accountable those who promote such acts,” the statement read.
He was released on August 15 and is the second Salvadoran to complete his sentence. In December of last year, another Salvadoran, Ernesto Cruz León, was released after planting bombs at tourist centers, one of which killed an Italian tourist identified as Fabio Di Celmo.
A third Salvadoran, Francisco Chávez Abarca, also received a 30-year sentence from Cuban courts in 2010 after being extradited from Venezuela through Interpol for actions against Cuba.
Rodríguez Llerena had requested conditional release in 2016, arguing that his actions had not caused any direct fatalities, but no further information was released about his situation until now.
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