Human rights campaigner expresses concern about how flotilla detainees will be treated

Vivienne Clarke

Human rights campaigner Caoimhe Butterly, who is on a vessel monitoring the flotilla from which Irish activists were detained, has expressed concern about how the detainees will be treated.

Speaking on RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland, Butterly pointed out that there had been no communication since the interception of the flotilla by Israeli forces.

One of the Irish detainees is Dr Margaret Connolly, a GP from Sligo and sister of President Catherine Connolly.

Ships from the Global Sumud Flotilla had set sail for a third time on Thursday from southern Turkey, after earlier attempts ⁠to deliver aid to Gaza were intercepted by Israel in international waters.

Butterly said the group had been “illegally abducted” and were being detained on a converted cargo prison ship.

“There has been no communication with them since the interception, but based on the testimonies of those who were intercepted and, again, illegally detained two weeks ago, there were accounts of physical, psychological, and sexual violence perpetrated against some of those on board.

“So we're, along with the families and friends of those who have now gone basically incommunicado, waiting for updates.”

There was a possibility that the detainees would be taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod from where they would be transferred to prison before deportation, she said.

The ”abduction” of the people from the flotilla was contrary to international humanitarian law, but also to maritime law.

“Those on board have been very clear from the onset that their intention is to both uphold international law, but also to challenge what is a hermetic and illegal by all international law metrics, siege of Gaza.”

When asked if the presence of the sister of the Irish president would have an impact on how those in custody would be treated, Butterly said that, based on the experiences of those in a flotilla last October, which included members of parliament, she thought not, but she hoped “Margaret's presence brings a measure of safety to those around her.

“But I would say that Margaret Connolly was also very clear that her remit and her presence on board the flotilla, as well as being the president's sister, was also as a health care worker and to try and shine a spotlight on the systematic targeting of Palestinian health care workers.”