A/HRC/15/21 198. Many passengers were subjected to further interrogations while in detention; some said that this was done repeatedly. There were a number of allegations of beatings during these interrogations. 199. Most witnesses reported that they continued to be denied access to a lawyer and to contact with their embassies. Lawyers from one Israeli legal aid NGO said that they made repeated attempts to visit the detainees but were denied entry for some time. When they were granted access, the lawyers had a very limited time with each detainee and could only conduct cursory interviews. Some passengers received a visit from their embassy representative but the majority had no such contact. Although there was some access to telephones, telephone cards, when distributed, allowed very limited calling time making it practically impossible to call abroad. 200. No foreign national detained at Beersheva was charged with any offence or brought before a judge. One passenger was, however, taken, after he had protested his right to appear before a judge, before what he considered to be a “sham court” close to the airport to have his deportation confirmed. (c) Ill-treatment of passengers at the airport and repatriation 201. Depending on their time of arrival, passengers were detained from between 24 and 72 hours. Jordanians and passengers from certain other countries with no diplomatic relations with Israel were released early and transported back to Jordan by road. The majority of passengers were taken from the prison to Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv for repatriation by air. Many passengers complained that they had again to wait for many hours in the sun inside prison vans both at the prison and on arrival at the airport during the deportation phase. One women, overcome by the oppressive conditions in her vehicle said that she was refused access to a toilet despite making clear that she was menstruating. 202. Perhaps the most shocking testimony, after that relating to the violence on the Mavi Marmara, provided to the Mission was the consistent accounts of a number of incidents of extreme and unprovoked violence perpetrated by uniformed Israeli personnel upon certain passengers during the processing procedures inside the terminal at Ben Gurion International Airport on the day of deportation. These accounts were so consistent and vivid as to be beyond question. An intimidating number of armed soldiers and police were present inside the terminal building. Some passengers said that these officers were “spoiling for a fight”. All passengers had been subjected to multiple searches and were completely under the control of the Israelis by this stage. Most passengers were continuing to refuse to sign deportation documents and some were determined to make a point about the legality of the process by insisting on a court hearing to confirm the deportation. None of the violence described seems to have been justified. 203. Some passengers in the passport checking area saw an older passenger being roughly treated after receiving what appeared to be a beating. When other passengers, including Irish and Turkish passengers, protested this treatment, they were charged by soldiers using batons. In the foray, around 30 passengers were beaten to the ground, kicked and punched in a sustained attack by soldiers. One Irish passenger was seen being particularly badly beaten around the head and held in a choke position to the point of near suffocation. He identified his attackers as police officers. He was taken to a holding cell. 204. One Turkish passenger involved in the fight said that he was subsequently taken by soldiers, handcuffed with metal cuffs, picked up by the cuffs, taken to a small room and beaten and kicked by five more soldiers while others shielded the scene from outside. The police intervened to stop the violence in this case. 43