Reports shows brutality on Mavi Marmara continued at Israeli port

Six folders of documents, which include testimonies from witnesses and forensic reports annexed to Turkey's interim report concerning the naval raid last May on a Gaza aid flotilla, show that some of the raid's nine victims were killed by Israeli forces even before the military boarded one of the flotilla's six vessels, the Mavi Marmara. The testimonies also show that the 600 passengers were subjected to ill-treatment when they arrived in an Israeli port following their 10-hour ordeal on board the ships. "Israel cannot provoke a volatile situation where it is foreseeable that resistance is likely to occur and later use this as a legal justification to kill and injure civilians," said Turkey's interim report, already submitted to the United Nations. "The conduct of the Israeli soldiers was excessive, brutal and premeditated, not aimed at de-escalating the heightened atmosphere of fear, panic and resistance. Based on their training and experience, the Israeli soldiers should have abided by different and higher standards of conduct than those they applied to the civilians on board the Mavi Marmara. The Israeli forces cannot impute their own unlawful conduct upon the passengers who were justifiably and genuinely fearful and panicked at the attack." Israeli commandos killed a Turkish-American teenager and eight Turks last May on the Mavi Marmara. Israel has said the soldiers acted in self-defense after being attacked as they boarded the ship in international waters off the eastern Mediterranean coast. Turkey, on the other hand, has demanded an apology from Israel and compensation for the families of the victims. "According to eyewitness accounts, the first two killings of passengers took place on the upper deck by shots fired from helicopters before the first soldier had descended," said Turkey's report. "There was a melee and confusion on deck, followed intensified live fire by the Israelis against the passengers. From this point, the facts show that the Israeli soldiers went on a shooting spree that was both indiscriminate and targeted. Visuals shows how laser beams used on precision rifles were employed. Medical reports prove that some of the passengers who were killed were shot either from close range or from above. There is no evidence to show that these people who were killed posed a threat justifying an act of murder. For example, Cevdet Kiliclar was taking a photo when he was shot point-blank in the forehead. Furthermore, there is no evidence that any of the victims killed had any weapons on them." It added, "After 10 hours of sailing under these deplorable and inhumane conditions, the agony of 600 passengers continued in Israel in the Port of Ashdod. Most of the passengers were kept handcuffed, stripped and searched, and women were subjected to sexually humiliating treatment by male Israeli officials. There is no legal or moral justification to strip a female journalist multiple times and place a detector between her legs. This is completely unacceptable."