A/HRC/15/21 219. Passengers’ testimony included a number of credible allegations of physical violence and abuse perpetrated by Israeli officers, soldiers and policemen at the processing centre in Ashdod, at the prison and at the airport. In some cases, this violence seemed gratuitous; in other cases, it seemed aimed specifically at forcing compliance with particular procedures (signing forms, fingerprinting) or punishing individuals for noncompliance. The Mission considers that acts of torture were committed by Israeli officials against passengers during their period of detention in Israel in violation of article 1 of the Convention against Torture and articles 7 and 10 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 220. There were other instances of behaviour by Israeli officials which was aimed at humiliating individuals which, if not torture, would constitute cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment under the terms of article 16 of the Convention against Torture. Body searches were not always conducted in accordance with accepted procedures aimed at protecting the dignity of the person being searched and the frequency of the searches raises the suggestion that they served to humiliate and degrade rather than meet security needs. The Mission would like to draw particular attention to the treatment received by some women by female Israeli officers at the processing centre that fell well short of acceptable behaviour. (c) Parading of detainees 221. Whilst the passengers and crew arriving at Ashdod cannot be classified as prisoners of war, the scene at the quayside described by those interviewed carries the hallmarks of a “triumph” at which captured prisoners of war are paraded in front of flag-waving crowds. Prisoners of war would have been protected against this humiliating spectacle by article 13 of the Third Geneva Convention which protects them from “insults and public curiosity”. As civilians, the flotilla passengers should have been entitled to the same basic level of protection, which would also fall under general customary law provisions protecting civilians from assaults on their dignity. The failure of the Israeli authorities to afford this protection may also be construed, inter alia, as a violation of the presumption of innocence under article 14, paragraph 2, of the International Covenant comparable to the public display of those suspected of criminal offences. Regardless of whether any passengers on board the flotilla were suspected of having committed of criminal acts, all passengers should have been protected from public curiosity. (d) Right to security of the person and to human dignity 222. The serious incidents of physical violence perpetrating by Israeli military and/or police officers against the passengers at Ben Gurion International Airport clearly constitute grave violations of the protection that should be afforded to detainees under international human rights law and international humanitarian law. Article 9 of the International Covenant provides for the right to security of person and article 10 guarantees that “all persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person”. Insofar as the treatment meted out at the airport was perpetrated by soldiers and police, sometimes with the acquiescence of their superiors, this behaviour can also be considered torture. It seems clear to the Mission that these acts at the airport, at a time when the passengers were completely under the control of the authorities, constituted an attempt by individual groups of officers to “give them a bloody nose” just before departure. 223. Other reported acts of physical abuse and ill treatment during the detention and deportation phase would similarly constitute violations of the right to security of person. 224. The Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials sets out some basic obligations which should have been followed by all Israeli military and police personnel whilst they 46