Turkey Finds Israel Guilty for Flotilla Massacre

Turkish Findings on Freedom Flotilla: Israel Used Excessive Force, Must Pay Compensation, Apologise

The Turkish government released the findings of its investigation into the deadly Israeli assault on the Freedom Flotilla aid convoy that attempted to break the Gaza siege on 31 May 2010.

During the attack, which occurred in international waters, nine Turkish nationals were killed and dozens of other activists were injured.

The Turkish findings, released Friday 11 February, found that five of those killed were shot by Israeli commandoes at point-blank range. Two of the aid workers were killed by shots fired from the air as Israeli commandoes lowered themselves from helicopters onto the humanitarian aid ships, according to the International Middle East Media Center

According to the summary report, "Israeli forces carried out a well-planned and fully equipped attack, with the use of a special combat unit, kitted with frigates, helicopters, zodiacs, submarines, automatic weapons, laser-guided weapons, and modified paintball guns".

One of the members of the inquiry, Turkish Foreign Ministry official Mithat Rende, told reporters, "The force used was not justified, it was excessive".

The investigation found that 19-year old US citizen Furkan Dogan was first shot in the leg, then kicked by two Israeli soldiers, finally shot execution-style at close range.

"Israel violated laws regarding the safety of navigation in open waters and the freedom to navigate," Rende said, adding that the blockade of Gaza amounted to illegal collective punishment of 1.5 million people.

Rende said Turkish investigators questioned more than 100 Turkish and foreign activists that were on board the flotilla in compiling the report, and also sought the opinions of international legal experts, reported the Israeli news daily Haaretz.

"Israel is responsible for the compensation of all damages and has to apologize," Rende said.

The Turkish government has submitted its report to the United Nations committee in charge of investigating the attack.

Israel’s investigation team, the Turkel Commission, which was established by the Israeli government to examine the legality of the Israeli naval raid aboard the Turkish boat, released the first part of its report on the Israeli naval attack on the Mavi Marama, on 23 January.

The commission, officially known as the Public Commission to Examine the Maritime Incident of May 31, 2010, ruled not only that the attack on the Freedom Flotilla aid convoy was in accordance with international law, but also that the Israeli naval officers acted in self-defense in killing nine activists on board, and that Israel’s naval blockade on Gaza is legal.

“The actions carried out by Israel on May 31, 2010, to enforce the naval blockade had the regrettable consequences of the loss of human life and physical injuries,” reported the Commission.

“Nonetheless, and despite the limited number of uses of force for which we could not reach a conclusion, the actions taken were found to be legal pursuant to the rules of international law."

"International law does not give individuals or groups the freedom to ignore the imposition of a naval blockade that satisfies the conditions for imposing it and that is enforced accordingly," continued the commission’s conclusions.

Amnesty International deemed the Turkel Commission findings a “whitewash.”

“Despite being nearly 300 pages long, the report crucially fails to explain how the activists died and what conclusions the Commission reached regarding the IDF’s specific actions in each case,” the human rights organization remarked.

Amnesty not only rejects the Turkel Commissions interpretation of the events, but also “believes that Israel’s interception of the Gaza aid flotilla and the resistance it encountered from some of those on board the Mavi Marmara did not form part of an armed conflict. International human rights law and law enforcement norms should have been applied. As such, the use of force – and especially lethal force – should have been an act of last resort.”

The organization also rejects the Commission’s conclusions regarding the Israeli closure of Gaza and the nature of Israeli control.

Source: Tania Kepler for the Alternative Information Center (AIC)

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