The United Nations has added Israel to its list of countries accused of using sexual violence as a weapon in conflict, placing it alongside Hamas and other armed groups, according to a report by The Jerusalem Post. An updated list of counties blacklisted for this reason will be posted shortly and the Israeli Prison Service will be added to this list.

The group within the United Nations that decides on who appears on the list (Hamas was added last year) is the Security Council, most of whose members could also qualify to be listed if the standards were applied equally, which they are not.

Following are brief profiles of the prison conditions in members countries of the UN’s Security Council.

Prison abuse in China involves systematic torture, forced labor, and mass incarceration, particularly targeting ethnic minorities, religious groups, and political dissidents.  Reports from human rights organizations detail widespread physical abuse, including severe beatings, electric shocks, sleep deprivation, and being forced into stress positions for extended periods

The French prison system is experiencing a severe crisis marked by extreme overcrowding—often reaching over 136% capacity—severe staff shortages, and systemic degradation. The Council of Europe’s anti-torture committee (CPT) has warned that many of these facilities operate as “human warehouses” rather than environments for rehabilitation.  While most inmates report not facing deliberate ill-treatment, human rights organizations and the CPT have documented and received credible allegations of physical violence and excessive force inflicted by some prison officers, as well as incidents of deliberate violence in police and gendarmerie holding cells.

Widespread and systemic human rights abuses characterize the Russian prison system, including torture, sexual violence, and inhumane living conditions, according to extensive reports from whistleblowers and international observers. These practices are often used to extort confessions, discipline inmates, or exert psychological control. Former inmates and leaked videos have documented severe physical violence, including the use of electric shocks, beatings with mop handles or truncheons, and daily forced physical drills. As for sexual violence, damning footage leaked from a prison........

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