At a military base that now doubles as a detention center in Israel\u2019s Negev desert, an Israeli working at the facility snapped two photographs of a scene that he says continues to haunt him. <\/p>\n
Rows of men in gray tracksuits are seen sitting on paper-thin mattresses, ringfenced by barbed wire. All appear blindfolded, their heads hanging heavy under the glare of floodlights. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe were told they were not allowed to move. They should sit upright. They\u2019re not allowed to talk. Not allowed to peek under their blindfold.\u201d <\/p>\n
Guards were instructed \u201cto scream uskot<\/em>\u201d \u2013 <\/strong>shut up in Arabic \u2013 <\/strong>and told to \u201cpick people out that were problematic and punish them,\u201d the source added. <\/p>\n They paint a picture of a facility where doctors sometimes amputated prisoners\u2019 limbs due to injuries sustained from constant handcuffing; of medical procedures sometimes performed by underqualified medics earning it a reputation for being \u201ca paradise for interns\u201d; and where the air is filled with the smell of neglected wounds left to rot. <\/p>\n