More Gaza flotilla activists allege mistreatment in Israeli detention
International activists deported from Israel after joining an intercepted Gaza aid flotilla have given further accounts of mistreatment by guards during their detention.
Italian journalist Saverio Tommasi said Israeli soldiers had withheld medicines and treated the detained activists “like monkeys”.
The latest claims added to the growing scrutiny of Israel on Sunday for its treatment of the activists.
Some 450 participants in the flotilla were abducted between Wednesday and Friday as Israeli forces intercepted the boats, which were seeking to break a naval blockade of Gaza and deliver a symbolic amount of aid to Palestinians in the besieged territory.
Flotilla lawyer says activists’ hearings began without legal counsel
A lawyer representing activists detained from the Global Sumud Flotilla says they have been subjected to mistreatment and denied basic rights while held in an Israeli prison.
Lubna Tuma – legal counsel with Adalah, a human rights group and legal centre – said the detainees have been subjected to conditions that “reflect the wider system of abuse faced by Palestinian prisoners”.
“Numerous activists started the administrative procedure without having a legal counsel,” Tuma said, adding that many were kept in rooms about 3 metres (3.3 yards) wide.
She said detainees were handcuffed “from behind for more than five hours” and denied food, water and medical care.
“When we asked if they saw a doctor or received any medical treatment, they said no one saw them,” she added.
Tuma also said activists described being insulted and mocked, adding that women, particularly those wearing hijabs, were “treated much more harshly” and some were “prohibited from wearing the hijab or praying”.
In a statement, the Global Sumud Flotilla said: “This is not an isolated case, it exposes the same methods routinely used against Palestinians under occupation: humiliation, deprivation, and collective punishment.”
Israel deports 171 Gaza flotilla activists, including Greta Thunberg
The deportees have been sent to Greece and Slovakia, according to the Israeli army.
It said the deportees are citizens of Greece, Italy, France, Ireland, Sweden, Poland, Germany, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Austria, Luxembourg, Finland, Denmark, Slovakia, Switzerland, Norway, the UK, Serbia and the US.
