Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg on Tuesday alleged that she and other participants of the Gaza aid flotilla were subjected to torture while in Israeli detention following their arrest last week.
Speaking at a news conference in Stockholm, Thunberg said she and other detainees were “kidnapped and tortured” by Israeli forces after their flotilla was intercepted en route to Gaza. She declined to provide detailed accounts of her treatment, saying she did not want the focus to be on her.
“I don’t want it to become, ‘Greta has been tortured,’ because that’s not the story here,” Thunberg said. “What we went through is nothing compared to what people in Gaza face every day.”
She added that detainees lacked clean water and that some were deprived of critical medication.
Israel’s foreign ministry has denied mistreating detainees. “All detainees were given access to water, food, and restrooms; they were not denied legal counsel, and all their legal rights were fully upheld,” a ministry spokesperson told Reuters last week.
The ministry did not immediately respond to Thunberg’s latest claims.
Thunberg was part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, a coalition of vessels attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza and raise awareness of the worsening humanitarian crisis there.
According to organizers, Israeli forces detained 478 people from the flotilla before expelling them from the country on Monday.
Israel dismissed the flotilla as a “publicity stunt” aimed at benefiting Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza, and has rejected reports of widespread hunger in the enclave as exaggerated.
Swedish activists had claimed that Thunberg was shoved and forced to wear an Israeli flag during her detention, though she did not mention this during her press appearance.
Thunberg and other detainees also criticized the Swedish government for what they described as insufficient consular support.
Sweden’s foreign ministry said it had consistently warned citizens against traveling to Gaza but confirmed it had provided assistance to those detained and had “stressed to Israeli authorities the importance of treating Swedish citizens well.”
Thunberg’s arrest marked her second confrontation with Israeli forces this year. She was previously detained in June after taking part in a similar flotilla that sought to challenge Israel’s blockade of Gaza.
Source: Reuters
Written By Rodney Mbua
