PETALING JAYA: Members of the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) detained by the Israeli naval forces were processed without legal representation and subjected to degrading treatment, claim lawyers from Adalah, the legal centre for Arab minority rights in Israel.
“Over the past 24 hours, Adalah attorneys met with 331 participants of the GSF at Ashdod Port.
“They were initially processed without legal counsel, subjected to degrading treatment such as being zip-tied and forced to kneel for hours, and targeted by a smear campaign labeling them ‘terrorists’", GSF posted an update on Instagram on Saturday (Oct 4).
It said the detained volunteers were later transferred from Ashdod to Ktzi’ot Prison in the Naqab, where tribunal hearings began without notifying or allowing their lawyers to attend.
“The entire process was unlawful, adding that the interception in international waters amounted to abduction, while the blockade itself is illegal, constituting collective punishment and a tool of genocide through deliberate starvation.
“Adalah is now present in these proceedings, pursuing legal measures to ensure all detainees are accounted for.
“Adalah demands their immediate release, the return of the humanitarian aid supplies, and continues prison visits to safeguard their rights,” it added.
The GSF, comprising over 500 activists from 45 countries, had embarked on a voyage toward Gaza as a gesture of solidarity and an effort to break the Israeli blockade.
The flotilla was sailing across the Mediterranean carrying vital food and medical supplies, bearing a message of peace that demands an end to the war and famine, and the immediate opening of humanitarian corridors to Gaza.
