ICSPR Sends Urgent Letter to the International Criminal Court, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and UN Special Rapporteurs Regarding the Bodies of Martyred Palestinian Prisoners and Calls for an International Investigation

Date: 19 October 2025

Press Release

ICSPR Sends Urgent Letter to the International Criminal Court, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and UN Special Rapporteurs Regarding the Bodies of Martyred Palestinian Prisoners and Calls for an International Investigation

The International Commission to Support Palestinians’ Rights (ICSPR) sent an urgent legal memorandum to several international bodies, including the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (The Hague), the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (Geneva), the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

The memorandum addresses the handover of the bodies of martyred Palestinian prisoners from Israeli occupation prisons and the clear evidence of field executions and systematic torture against them.

ICSPR stated that the memorandum aims to inform the international community about the latest grave developments concerning the violations committed by the Israeli occupation authorities against Palestinian detainees. This comes in light of the recent handover of 120 bodies of Palestinian martyrs who were killed inside Israeli detention centers under suspicious and mysterious circumstances, where their bodies were kept for months in refrigerators — a composite crime that embodies the ugliest forms of organized extermination and inhumane treatment.

ICSPR emphasized that official medical examinations and field observations revealed clear signs of execution and brutal torture, including severe handcuffing, blindfolding, bone fractures, burns, bruises, and missing body parts, raising strong suspicions of organized organ theft. The advanced decomposition of several bodies, it added, resulted from their prolonged detention in refrigerators. Medical findings showed that the nature of the injuries contradicts the Israeli narrative regarding the causes of death, confirming that the victims were subjected to killing and torture inside detention facilities.

The Commission further noted that these crimes are part of a systematic Israeli policy involving field executions, torture, rape, physical assaults, and deliberate denial of medical care, as reported by released prisoners who described horrific detention conditions.

ICSPR also highlighted the continued enforced disappearance of thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, with no information about approximately 5,000 missing persons, while over 10,000 bodies remain under the rubble. Meanwhile, the occupation continues to prevent journalists, international investigators, and recovery equipment from entering Gaza, despite the presence of an estimated 65–70 million tons of debris and 20,000 unexploded ordnances, in a deliberate attempt to erase evidence and conceal crimes.

The memorandum affirmed that such actions constitute grave violations of international humanitarian law and amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity under Articles (7) and (8) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, as they involve willful killings, torture leading to death, mutilation, and the withholding of bodies, depriving families of their right to dignity and knowledge.

It further stressed that the documented allegations of organ theft and enforced disappearance require an urgent international investigation and accountability for all parties involved.

In light of the above, the International Commission (ICSPR) called on the international community and relevant bodies to:

1. Open an urgent international investigation into the crimes of execution and torture inside Israeli detention centers.

2. Allow international fact-finding missions to enter the Gaza Strip to document medical and forensic evidence.

3. Investigate allegations of organ theft and hold the Israeli military and medical entities accountable.

4. Pressure Israel to open crossings and permit the entry of equipment necessary for debris removal and body recovery.

5. Impose international sanctions on Israeli leaders and officials responsible for these crimes.

6. Enable the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to conduct full monitoring of prisoners’ conditions and ensure access by independent medical missions.

7. Activate international accountability and compensation mechanisms for the massive destruction and civilian victims, and end the double standards applied to the Palestinian cause.

ICSPR concluded its memorandum by stressing that these crimes are not isolated incidents but part of an organized policy of genocide targeting the Palestinian people, aimed at breaking their will and undermining their human dignity.