UPDATE - European lawmakers call for immediate release of Sumud Flotilla activists

UPDATE WITH MORE DETAILS

By Beyza Binnur Donmez and Aysu Bicer

GENEVA – More than 80 parliamentarians from across Europe on Tuesday condemned Israel’s attack on the Global Sumud Flotilla and urged the immediate release of all volunteers still held in detention.

In a joint statement, members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and the European Parliament said the flotilla “did not carry weapons, it carried hope” and described Israel’s actions as a “blatant breach of international law.”

The convoy of activists, journalists, lawmakers and volunteers was stopped by the Israeli Navy on Oct. 1 while attempting to deliver food and medical aid to Gaza. More than 450 people were detained, with deportations ongoing, including 137 to Türkiye and 171 to Greece and Slovakia. Many remain in a high-security prison, according to the statement.

Lawmakers said reports from released detainees pointed to “lack of essential medicines, inadequate food and water, unsanitary conditions, humiliation, denial of counsel and consular access, and arbitrary delays” - treatment they warned could breach international humanitarian law.

The parliamentarians urged governments to press for the “immediate, unconditional release” of those still detained, ensure medical care, legal counsel and family contact, and allow independent access by the UN and ICRC. They also called for an international investigation and reaffirmed the “inviolability of humanitarian missions.”

Amnesty International has also demanded the “immediate and unconditional” release of flotilla volunteers, while UN human rights experts urged an independent and impartial investigation into the interception.

“The Global Sumud Flotilla symbolized the moral courage of ordinary citizens acting where many governments have failed,” the statement read. “To detain, humiliate, or prosecute these individuals is to criminalize compassion.”

- 'European governments still refrain from even acknowledging that war crimes'

Sena Nur Celik Kanat, an AK Party lawmaker from Istanbul, told Anadolu that the declaration was signed by parliamentarians from several European countries.

“This is not only about calling for the release of the flotilla volunteers detained by Israel. When we look at the text, we see that it contains important references. One of them is the call to end the war crimes being committed in Gaza," she said.

"Unfortunately, today many European governments still refrain from even acknowledging that war crimes—let alone genocide—are being committed in Gaza. The text clearly states that more than 2 million civilians in Gaza are being subjected to acts indicating ethnic cleansing and genocide," she noted.

Recalling that some of the activists from the Global Sumud Flotilla had been released, she said: “We understand that the volunteers were subjected to all kinds of ill-treatment during their detention in Israel.”

She noted that the declaration also includes a call for an independent international investigation into these abuses. "The declaration calls for ensuring accountability of Israeli authorities in the face of violations of international law and international humanitarian law."