A/HRC/15/21 213. Some of the passengers treated in Israeli hospitals acknowledged that they were well cared for by the medical personnel, but others reported verbal abuse and taunting by their guards. A number of witnesses said that they were unable to sleep properly throughout their stay in hospital due, in some cases, to deliberate disturbance by the guards. The patients were subjected to the same repeated questioning by police or soldiers and heavy pressure to sign documents in Hebrew as other passengers had experienced at Ashdod. Some patients were visited by a representative of their embassy or by representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross. 214. Many of those treated in the Israeli hospitals reported that they were handcuffed to their beds using standard metal handcuffs throughout their stay. Some were also restrained at their ankles. These were seriously injured people and the cuffing was done with no apparent regard to their injuries. 2. (a) Legal analysis of the treatment of the passengers in Israel Arbitrary or illegal arrest or detention 215. As stated above, article 9, paragraph 1, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights guards against arbitrary arrest or detention. Since the Israeli interception of the flotilla was unlawful, the detention of the passengers and crew from the seven vessels at Ashdod was also prima facie unlawful since there was no legal basis for the Israeli authorities to have detained and transported these people to Israel. The passengers found themselves in Israel on the basis of an unlawful act by the State of Israel. The Israeli authorities were therefore under an obligation to deal with these people in accordance with their international human rights obligations. However, once they arrived in Israel, the Israeli authorities attempted to shroud the illegality of the interception in a veil of legality. 216. On arrival in Ashdod, attempts were made to get passengers to sign certain documents which passengers understood to be a confession of illegal entry into Israel. The passengers almost universally refused to sign these documents based on the logic that since they had been brought to Israel against their will, they could not themselves be held to have illegally entered the country. They objected to the implication that they, as victims of an illegal act by the State of Israel, could then be held guilty of the illegal act of entering Israel. The Mission shared this objection and is of the view that the continued detention of the passengers at Ashdod, Beersheva and at the airport constituted a continuation of their unlawful detention initiated by the soldiers on the vessels after the interception 217. Some passengers wished to challenge the legality of that detention as a means of drawing attention to the illegal acts which had resulted in their arrival in Israel. They insisted on their right to appear before a judge and said that they had received summons to appear in court to face charges. The Mission did not receive copies of any court documents showing that foreign nationals involved in the flotilla were charged with any criminal offences in Israel. If they were, then the denial of the right to a fair hearing before an independent, impartial and competent tribunal would constitute a violation of their rights under article 14 of the International Covenant. (b) Torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 218. At all times, the Israeli authorities were bound to treat the detainees in accordance with Israel’s international human rights obligations and to protect them from harm. The Mission considers that, whilst the detention phase purported to proceed within a framework of legality, there was pervasive hostility towards the passengers which allowed abuse to take place. 45