Over 48 hours after their detention crucial information about many flotilla detainees still lacking

ADALAH BREAKING NEWS UPDATE
2 June 2010

New Information from the Attorney General’s Office on the Detainees and Wounded from the Gaza Freedom Flotilla but Many Questions Still Unanswered

Today, 2 June 2010, at close to 17:00, Adalah received a supplemental response from the Attorney General’s office to the petition for habeas corpus and demand for information concerning the passengers on the intercepted Gaza Freedom Flotilla. This response was received in Adalah’s offices, while the Supreme Court hearing was underway on the case. The petition filed by human rights organizations Adalah, The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) and Physicians for Human Rights – Israel (PHR-I).

The main points of the state’s response concerning the detainees and the wounded are:

* 125 people have left Israel via the Allenby Bridge to Jordan

* 45 people have left Israel via Ben Gurion Airport on their own accord

* 2 people have left via Rosh Hanikora Crossing (border with Lebanon)

* 2 people have left to Bulgaria, and 2 others will be leaving to Azerbijan

* The Israel Prison Service has informed us that the rest of the detainees are on buses and are on the way to leave the country

* Prior to deportation, each of the participants who so wishes was permitted to meet with an attorney

* The IPS has notified us that 17 people are at an IPS medical facility. The Health Ministry informed us that the rest of the injured, numbering, 24 are in various hospitals across the country. The medical condition of 23 of the injured permits them to leave the country.

The state’s response has still left many questions unanswered. For example:

* There is still no list of names or locations of the injured, and still no official numbers or list of the deceased.

* There is still no official count of the numbers of the detainees and their locations

* What is the legal status of the wounded at the IPS medical facility and at hospitals across the country?

* Why has there been extremely limited access to the wounded? For example, although Adalah has repeatedly tried to gain access to the wounded who are hospitalized and detained at Rambam Hospital in Haifa, no access has been granted.

Rina Jabareen
International Advocacy Director
Adalah: The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel
94 Yaffa Street
PO Box 8921, Haifa 31090, Israel
Tel: +972(0)4-950-1610 Ext. 106
Mobile: +972-528-498-807
Fax: +972(0)4-950-3140