Investigation suggests American company Axon still supplies Israel with Taser weapons despite evidence they have been used to torture prisoners
Mustafa Abdel Raouf, theguardian.com
The soldiers drag the man into a section of the prison known as Hell’s Wing, a metaphor for its notoriety for acts of brutality. Shoving him violently into a corner, they take a step back before one of them draws his weapon and fires two rubber bullets at his body. The man, a double amputee, collapses to the floor.
After tying him up tightly, the soldiers continue their assault until one of them pulls a stun gun from its holster. The soldier approaches the man, brandishing the gun, before applying it to his body, engulfing him in an electric shock.
This is what Essa* says happened to him during a period in Israeli detention. Today, more than a year and a half later, the scars from the electric shocks remain visible on his body. The close proximity of double scars suggests he was subjected to repeated shocks while in a “tightly restrained” position, says the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims.
Essa, now 43, was arrested in the Jabalia refugee camp in January 2024, where he had been staying since having both feet amputated after an Israeli missile attack on his home. He was held at Israel’s Ofer Prison before being released in October 2025.
According to an investigation by the Guardian and Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism, Essa was likely to have been tortured with a Taser electroshock weapon manufactured by the American company Axon Enterprise, formerly known as Taser International.