A/HRC/15/21
were charged with the care of the passengers. These include the duty to respect and protect
human dignity and maintain and uphold the human rights of all persons (art. 2), to use force
only when strictly necessary and to the extent required for the performance of their duty
(art. 3) and not to inflict, instigate or tolerate any act of torture or other cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment (article 5). Each of these duties was disregarded by
certain Israeli officials at certain points during the detention and deportation process.
(e)
Other detention rights
225. Regardless of the pretended claim to legality of the detention of the flotilla
participants inside Israel, the State of Israel was bound to afford the detainees certain basic
rights whilst in detention. In certain instances, the facts as presented to the Mission indicate
that these rights were not respected.
226. Article 10 of the International Covenant provides that all persons deprived of their
liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human
person. This provision is supplemented, inter alia, by the Body of Principles for the
Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment (1988) and the
Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials (1979). Whilst a system was put in place
at Ashdod for the processing of the disembarking passengers, it is clear that officers showed
a hostility towards the passengers under their care which encouraged behaviour which
violated basic standards of civilized treatment of detainees.
227. There were problems with ensuring that all disembarking passengers understood the
legal processes and procedures to which they were being subjected due to language
difficulties. Although the Israeli authorities clearly attempted to provide documents in
languages other than Hebrew and some officers were on hand able to speak English, Arabic
and Turkish, it is clear that many passengers did not understand what was happening to
them. Article 9, paragraph 2, of the International Covenant requires that detained persons
be informed about the reasons for their arrest and detention. Principle 14 of the Body of
Principles states that a person who does not adequately understand or speak the language
used by the authorities responsible for the arrest, detention or imprisonment is entitled to
receive promptly in a language which he understands certain specific information relating
to his arrest and detention and to have the assistance, free of charge, if necessary, of an
interpreter in connection with legal proceedings subsequent to arrest. The Mission
considers that many detainees were not afforded these rights.
228. Furthermore, there is evidence that some detainees were specifically misinformed
about their legal situation by Israeli officers, particular with regard to the deportation papers
they were asked to sign. In one absurd example, an individual says that he was told that
refusing to sign the deportation form would incur the death penalty – an assertion which the
detainee did not take seriously. Principle 21 of the Body of Principles prohibits taking
“undue advantage of the situation of a detained or imprisoned person for the purpose of
compelling him to confess, to incriminate himself otherwise or to testify against another
person”.
229. Many of the detainees specifically requested, on numerous occasions, access to legal
counsel and/or the consular services of their embassies or diplomatic representatives in
Israel. Although some did eventually receive visits from legal aid lawyers and diplomatic
consuls, other did not. Principle 17 of the Body of Principles states that “a detained person
shall be entitled to have the assistance of a legal counsel. He shall be informed of his right
by the competent authority promptly after arrest and shall be provided with reasonable
facilities for exercising it.” Principle 16 (2) furthermore provides:
If a detained person is a foreigner, he shall also be promptly informed of his right to
communicate by appropriate means with a consular post of the diplomatic mission
47
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