Amnesty Chief: Abu Safiya Should be Considered “Victim of Enforced Disappeared”
London (Quds News Network)- Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Agnes Callamard, stated that the rights group is “extremely alarmed by the latest information” regarding the whereabouts of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital. She emphasized that he should be considered a “victim of enforced disappearance.”
In a post on X on Thursday, the Amnesty Chief added that Abu Safiya is “at great risk of torture and ill-treatment,” demanding that Israeli occupation authorities “must urgently disclose” the location of Dr. Abu Safiya.
We are extremely alarmed by the latest information we have received regarding the whereabouts of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiyyah, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital. He should now be considered as victim of enforced disappeared, and as such at great risk of torture and ill-treatment.… pic.twitter.com/e1eH2O953j
— Agnes Callamard (@AgnesCallamard) January 2, 2025
Her remarks came after the Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) organisation said on Thursday the Israeli military officially stated that it has no information on the arrest or detention of the Kamal Adwan Hospital director.
The PHRI submitted an “urgent request” to the Israeli military to reveal the location of Abu Safiya, who was abducted following Israel’s recent raid and destruction of the medical facility on December 27, and arrange a lawyer’s visit for him.
However, the body responsible for coordinating with the army regarding the location of detainees and prisoners from the Gaza Strip, stated that they have no indication of his arrest or detention.
PHRI said it filed the request on behalf of Abu Safiya’s family after the doctor was “abducted” for refusing to leave Kamal Adwan in north Gaza “until every last patient was evacuated”.
Today, on behalf of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya’s family, we filed an urgent request with the Israeli military for information on his current whereabouts. The director of Kamal Adwan #Hospital was abducted on Friday after refusing to leave until every last patient was evacuated. pic.twitter.com/sSfIqroycc
— Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) (@PHRIsrael) December 31, 2024
Israeli forces arrested Abu Safiya on December 27 after raiding Kamal Adwan Hospital. During Israel’s assault, several departments caught on fire, killing and wounding Palestinian medical workers and patients, according to Munir al-Bursh, director general of the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza.
In the raid, Israeli forces said they killed at least 20 Palestinians.
The Israeli army confirmed the day after that it arrested the hospital director, claiming he was “suspected of being a Hamas terrorist operative” and the hospital was used as a “command and control centre” without providing evidence for its claims.
According to reports on Monday, Abu Safiya is currently being held at Israel’s notorious Sde Teiman prison, where abuse, including torture, killings and rape, is rife, recently released detainees have said.
Bursh said that Israeli forces violently beat Abu Safiya before they arrested him.
On Monday, Israeli media circulated a video of the moments before Abu Safiya was detained by Israeli forces, the footage capturing his efforts to move hundreds of patients and medical staff to safety after the Israeli military issued a 15-minute warning to evacuate the hospital.
The last picture of Abu Safiya, widely shared on social media, also showed him walking towards an Israeli tank near the Kamal Adwan Hospital.
Physicians for Human Rights (PHRI) have been informed that the Israeli military has no record of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiyyah, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, who was reportedly arrested by the occupation forces on December 27, 2024.
Despite video evidence showing his arrest, the… pic.twitter.com/S2ofhRaEQE
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) January 2, 2025
Now, the Israeli army said it has no indication of the arrest or detention of Abu Safiya. In light of this denial, PHRI has now filed a petition with the Israeli High Court of Justice (HCJ) on Thursday, demanding immediate disclosure of Dr. Abu Safiya’s location.
PHRI said it “highlighted [to the High Court] that this case is part of a broader pattern of non-disclosure and unreliable information provided by the Israeli military and prison authorities regarding Palestinian detainees.”
‘Great risk of torture’
On Thursday, UN experts said they were “gravely concerned” about the fate of Dr. Abu Safiya, and called on Israeli authorities, as the occupying power in Gaza, to “respect and protect the right to life.”
“The heroic actions of Palestinian medical colleagues in Gaza, teach us what it means to have taken the medical oath. They are also a clear signal of a depraved humanity that has allowed a genocide to continue for well over a year,” the experts said in a statement.
More than 1,057 Palestinian health and medical professionals have been killed in Gaza, according to the statement.
Fears are now growing for Dr. Abu Safiya’s safety, as he may face the same fate as Dr. Adnan al-Bursh, an orthopedic surgeon who continued treating the wounded amid Israeli airstrikes. Al-Bursh was abducted by Israeli forces on December 19, 2023, and taken to Sde Teiman, where he was likely raped, tortured, and murdered while in custody.
Dr. Abu Safiya’s family told CNN: “Sde Teiman is known for brutality and torture, we can’t imagine what our father is going through in that place and if he is well or not, warm or cold… hungry or in pain.”
“It is widely known the immense efforts he has made since the beginning of the war to support the only healthcare system for the residents of north Gaza,” the statement read.
