A/HRC/15/21 one passenger, a Greek national, was severely beaten for refusing to provide his fingerprints to the Israeli authorities. The passenger was dragged along the ground for some distance and then surrounded by a large group of Israeli officials who proceeded to beat him severely, including the deliberate fracture of his leg. His cries for help were ignored, and one witness noted uniformed officials, both male and female, laughing at him. The passenger’s broken leg was not treated until after he had left Israel. 191. Passengers were also given a medical check, although some were able to and did refuse. Many passengers considered the medical checks to be cursory and pro forma. The medication of some passengers who were following special medical prescriptions for existing conditions had been confiscated by soldiers or left behind on the vessels. Requests for these medications to be returned were not met promptly although some people did receive their medication later after repeated requests. 192. In addition to the examples described above, there were other incidents of physical violence being perpetrated against individual passengers deemed non-cooperative, which resulted in physical injuries and trauma. One passenger, who made a general protest about the way the passengers were being treated, was told by an Israeli officer: “You are in Israel now; you have no rights”. 193. Passengers were not allowed access to a lawyer or to consular services during processing at the port. Some passengers said that there were translators available in some languages and some officials involved in the processing spoke languages other than Hebrew. However, many passengers were unable to understand what was being said to them. 194. The wife of one of the deceased passengers was treated with complete insensitivity to her bereavement. She was not allowed to make a phone call to inform her family of her loss. There were examples of members of the same family who were separated and kept in complete ignorance of the whereabouts and well-being of their relatives until repatriation. This separation added to the distress and anxiety experienced by the passengers. (b) Detention of passengers and crew at Ella prison near Beersheva 195. After processing at Ashdod, the majority of passengers were transferred in batches to Ella Prison, near Beersheva, a one-to-two-hour journey by road. Passengers were transferred in regular prison vehicles with barred windows. Some passengers had to wait in the vehicles for several hours. One passenger said that he spent 20 hours waiting in a van both at Ashdod and at the prison. Many passengers complained that excessive airconditioning made the vans very cold. Others complained that they were locked in the vans with closed windows in the sun for long periods so that the atmosphere became suffocating. Requests to adjust the temperature or to allow access to the toilet were either ignored or in some cases resulted in threats of or actual violence. 196. On arrival at the prison, most passengers were placed in cells in groups of up to four persons. A number of passengers reported that they were kept in isolation and did not meet with other passengers until they left the prison. 197. Most witnesses reported that the conditions at the prison were acceptable, although some complained that on arrival at the facility they had to clean the cells and the communal areas. Some also stated that the toilets did not function properly and some, including women, reported discomfort in using the showers due to the presence of surveillance cameras. Passengers were generally provided with food and water. Many passengers complained that they were prevented from sleeping in the prison due to regular roll-calls, noise from the prison guards and other deliberate disturbances. 42