Deported flotilla activists allege 'sadistic' sexual abuse and torture in Israeli captivity

Flotilla activists who were abducted and jailed by Israeli authorities while in international waters have reported being subjected to sexual abuse and torture while in Israeli captivity.

Some 430 activists, who were held after Israeli forces raided the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla, were deported to Istanbul on Thursday evening. 

Footage showed activists arriving at airports clad in grey prison tracksuits and keffiyehs with their fists raised, as families and supporters greeted them.

Upon arrival the activists reported being fired at with rubber bullets, beaten and subjected to sexual assault while in Israeli custody.

Italian journalist Alessandro Mantovani, who is among the deportees, told reporters at Rome’s Fiumicino airport that he and others were“taken to Ben Gurion airport in handcuffs and with chains on our feet and put on a flight to Athens”.

Read more: Deported flotilla activists allege 'sadistic' sexual abuse and torture in Israeli captivity