A/HRC/15/21 17. Not having heard from the Permanent Representative of Israel, the Mission wrote to the Permanent Representative, by letter dated 7 September 2010, renewing its request for information. The Permanent Representative replied by letter dated 13 September 2010 requesting the Mission to delay delivering its report to the Council on the ground that it should await the report of the Commission under Judge Turkel in Israel and the Panel appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations. The Mission replied advising the Permanent Representative that the request should be made to the Council. Regrettably to date, no information has been given to the Mission by or on behalf of the Government of Israel. B. Methodology 18. Following its official establishment, the Mission redrafted its Terms of Reference so as to reflect its approach to the mandate given. The Mission then established its working methodology, including the criteria to select witnesses who had participated in the flotilla. 19. Different sources of information were made available to the Mission, including the evidence of eyewitnesses, forensic reports and interviews with medical and forensic personnel in Turkey, as well as written statements, video film footage and other photographic material relating to the incident. 20. In ascertaining the facts surrounding the Israeli interception of the Gaza-bound flotilla, the Mission gave particular weight to the direct evidence received from interviews with eyewitnesses and crew, as well as the forensic evidence and interviews with government officials. In light of the seizure of cameras, CCTV footage and digital media storage devices and the subsequent disclosure of only a selected and minute quantity of it, the Mission was obliged to treat with extreme caution the versions released by the Israeli authorities where those versions did not coincide with the evidence of eyewitnesses who appeared before it. 21. Taking into consideration the resources and limited time available, the Mission travelled to Istanbul, Ankara and Iskenderun in Turkey, Amman in Jordan and London in the United Kingdom in order to interview witnesses, hold meetings with government officials and conduct an inspection of the ship Mavi Marmara, in which nine passengers died on 31 May 2010. The Mission was able to contact several persons with information bearing on the matters under enquiry. A total of 112 witnesses6 were interviewed by the Mission, either by all of its members at the same time or by individual members. In addition written statements were received from several persons through their attorneys. 22. The Mission wishes to record its appreciation for the assistance given by various firms of attorneys for facilitating the appearance before it of persons involved in the incident7 and represented by them. Meetings were also held with different nongovernmental organizations in Geneva, Istanbul and Amman. 23. The Mission is of the opinion that evidence from a sufficient number and range of witnesses was taken to afford it a comprehensive picture of the events as they occurred on 31 May 2010. In addition to the information received directly, the Mission took into consideration information from a variety of sources, subject to verification of authenticity. 6 7 Witnesses were interviewed at the following locations: London; Geneva; Istanbul; Amman. The Mission is grateful to the International Maritime Organization for its assistance in providing a venue for the interviews in London. Law firms in London, Istanbul and Athens assisted the Mission. 5