Turkish and European MPs issue call for release of flotilla activists
Parliamentarians from Turkey and Europe have issued a plea for the immediate release of activists who took part in the Global Sumud Flotilla and remain detained by Israel.
The statement condemned Israel's interception of the boats as a "blatant breach of international law", and urged governments to push for "the immediate and unconditional release of remaining detainees, with protection from ill-treatment and guaranteed medical care, legal counsel and consular access".
Israeli forces illegally boarded the boats, which were carrying over 450 activists and aid to Gaza on 1 October, in international waters.
While many of the detained activists have been deported, the statement emphasised that "many remain in a high security prison with no clarity on their status".
It added that detainees had reported being denied essential medicines, adequate food and water, being subjected to unsanitary conditions, humiliation, denial of legal counsel and consular access - concluding that this treatment constitutes a breach of international humanitarian law.
"The Global Sumud Flotilla symbolised the moral courage of ordinary citizens acting where many governments have failed. To detain, humiliate, or prosecute these individuals is to criminalise compassion," the letter said.
The letter's signatories included members of parliaments from European countries such as Turkish MP Sena Nur Celik Kanat, Dutch MP Saskia Kluit, Cypriot MP George Loucaides, British MP Cat Eccles, Danish MP Sascha Faxe, Belgian MP Christophe LaCroix, Spanish MPs Maria Luz Martinez and Laura Castel, Italian MP Ettore Licheri, and Swedish MP Denis Begic.
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Jordan's state news agency reported on Tuesday that 131 Gaza flotilla activists had been deported from Israel to Jordan via the Allenby Bridge crossing.
The activists arriving in Jordan included citizens of Bahrain, Tunisia, Algeria, Oman, Kuwait, Libya, Pakistan, Turkey, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Serbia, South Africa, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States and Uruguay, the Jordanian foreign ministry said.
Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said on Monday that the country will file a complaint with the International Criminal Court regarding the events of the Sumud Flotilla, Al Jazeera Arabic reported.
"Any attack on persons in international waters constitutes a deprivation of liberty under domestic and international law," Marlaska said.
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