Activists on board a humanitarian flotilla intercepted by Israeli forces on their way to Gaza say they were subjected to beatings, torture and sexual violence while in detention.
The Global Sumud Flotilla, carrying 428 passengers along with food, medicine, and humanitarian supplies for civilians in Gaza, was intercepted over the course of several days after departing Turkey, with the final interception on Tuesday.
The group was detained before being deported to Turkey and their alleged treatment has already triggered international backlash.
The Israel-based human rights organization Adalah, which represents the flotilla activists, told CNN that its lawyers documented testimonies from participants who said they were attacked with tasers and rubber bullets and had been subjected to beatings that left them with suspected broken bones. A statement from the Global Sumud Flotilla added that activists had been subjected to sexual violence, including “multiple accounts of rape,” and “forcible penetration by a handgun.”
The Israel Prison Service told CNN that the “allegations raised are false and entirely without factual basis,” and that it “operates in accordance with the law.”
The Israel Defense Forces also rejected allegations of abuse by soldiers, telling CNN in a statement that its “orders require respectful and appropriate treatment of flotilla participants on the intercepted vessels, and there are clear and established procedures in this regard.”
“Any concrete complaints submitted to the IDF on the matter will be examined thoroughly,” it said.
Adalah’s international advocacy coordinator Miriam Azem stood by the allegations. “In the past 10 years of Adalah representing activists on flotillas, this is by far the most severe violence and assaults that we’ve encountered,” she told CNN.
Adalah said they would let the activists who said they had experienced sexual violence speak for themselves. This was because some survivors did not want to go into detail about their assaults, Azem said, while others were still in Israeli detention at the time they spoke with Adalah, and feared repercussions.
Australian film maker and activist Juliet Lamont told CNN that she was beaten and sexually assaulted by five men in a shipping container on board what she called an Israeli “prison boat.”
Speaking Thursday to reporters at Istanbul Airport while she was still wearing the grey prison tracksuit issued by the Israel Prison Service (IPS), Lamont said she believes activists were targeted in a “relentless” and “planned campaign of violence” that she believes is intended to ensure activists do not return.
“You know they’ve broken our bones, but they haven’t broken our soul,” Lamont said.
