Shahidul Alam describes mental torture during detention by Israeli forces

Photographer and Drik Managing Director Shahidul Alam has recounted harrowing experiences of mental abuse while detained by Israeli forces, saying detainees were subjected to intimidation, threats and harsh conditions.

Speaking at a press conference at Drik’s Patshala building on Saturday evening, Alam — who returned to the country on Saturday morning — said he and fellow detainees were tied, forced to sit in cramped positions and made to endure deliberate attempts to create fear.

He alleged Israeli personnel had urinated where they were made to sit, repeatedly threw his Bangladeshi passport to the ground and assaulted him when he tried to retrieve it.

Two companions were reportedly struck with the barrel of a machine gun for speaking, according to local media reports.

Alam said they were held in a highly secretive desert prison. One detainee was allegedly told he would be shot after being branded a “Hamas agent”. The group staged a hunger strike; they received a single plate of food in two-and-a-half days, slept on iron surfaces and used squalid toilets.

He added that armed soldiers sometimes entered cells at night, shouting and making loud noises to induce panic.

Alam said activists will now work to build an international network and a blueprint for further action.