A/HRC/15/21 205. A number of women were pushed around by soldiers, one of whom was beaten with fists. They were also subjected to sexual taunts. 206. In a separate incident, a passenger was physically attacked by around 17 officers when he refused to sign deportation paper, kicked in the head and threatened at gunpoint. A number of passengers had resolved to resist deportation in order to have the opportunity to demonstrate their innocence in an Israeli court. This was taken as a provocation by the Israelis. 207. One medical doctor gave a detailed account of his treatment. On arrival at the airport, the officer accompanying him jostled him and tried to trip him up on the stairs. He was then subjected to verbal insults as he passed through a check point. An officer slapped him on the back of the head and when he protested he was set upon by a group of uniformed officers, knocked to the ground and repeatedly punched and kicked. He was then dragged out of sight of other passengers where the attacks resumed. Attempts were made to break his fingers. He was restrained with metal handcuffs behind his back so tightly that he lost feeling to one hand. He was then hoisted up by the cuffs and pushed against a wall. When he asked for the cuffs to be loosened, he was told this was the price he had to pay for attempting to go to Gaza and that “it would be good for his health”. The doctor was wearing a jacket which clearly identified him as a medical doctor and said the attacks were completely unprovoked. 208. There were other incidents of isolated violence against individual passengers who were deemed to be uncooperative. One passenger was seen having his arm twisted behind his back by police to the point that the arm broke. Another was kicked and hit by some 10 soldiers, handcuffed and taken by vehicle to another place 10-15 minutes away, where soldiers abused him for up to two hours. When he returned to the airport, he was bleeding from the head. 209. A large number of the military and police personnel at the airport exhibited serious and unprofessional lapses of military discipline whilst commanding officers failed in most cases to intervene promptly. Much of the behaviour was surely criminal under domestic Israeli law. 210. The majority of the passengers regardless of nationality were deported from Israel aboard aircraft provided by the Government of Turkey. The Jordanian detainees however were deported by bus across the land border between Israel and Jordan. The Greek passengers were airlifted back to Athens aboard a Greek military aircraft sent by the Government of Greece. At least one passenger with dual nationality, including Israeli nationality elected not to be deported in order not to jeopardize his Israeli citizenship. He was threatened with prosecution but was released in Israel and later left the country without hindrance. 211. Some passengers were made to wait for many hours on board the aircraft while the deportation procedures for the other passengers were being completed. Some passengers said that they boarded the plane in the morning but did not take off until after midnight. (d) Treatment of injured passengers in Israeli hospitals 212. According to Israeli sources, 31 wounded passengers from the Mavi Marmara were air-lifted to various hospitals in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa and other locations. All witnesses reported that there were guards, either police or soldiers or both, at the bedside or stationed outside their rooms. They remained in the hospitals for between three and five days receiving medical treatment and were then transferred to Turkey by aeroplane. Most were then taken directly to the Atatürk Research Hospital in Ankara for further treatment. 44