Australian activists detained in Israel have told their country’s officials of “degrading and humiliating treatment” they claim to have received after being arrested onboard a flotilla carrying aid to Gaza – with one, Surya McEwen, saying he had been slapped and had his arm dislocated and head slammed into the ground.
Another, Juliet Lamont, said she was “gravely” concerned she was at risk of stroke after her daily medication was confiscated by Israeli security forces. She said her request for more medication was not being met while she was being held in a prison environment she described as “dystopian”.
McEwen and Lamont are among seven Australians confirmed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Dfat) to have been detained in Israel. Dfat said on Monday it was providing consular assistance to the Australians including through in-person visits.
They are being held in a high-security prison in the Negev desert after being arrested as part of the pro-Palestinian flotilla carrying aid to Gaza, and allege that they and fellow inmates were offered water that was undrinkable due to a strong chemical taste.
McEwen told Australian officials he had been held in a cage with 80 other people without food or water while the Israeli national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir yelled abuse at them, while Lamont told officials that when she arrived at Ketziot prison she was taken to a room with other women, where Ben-Gvir berated them and called them “terrorists”.
McEwen, a 40-year-old care worker and Lamont, a 54-year-old documentary film-maker – both from the New South Wales northern rivers – were arrested on Thursday when their Gaza-bound ships were intercepted by the Israeli navy. They were part of the Global Sumud Flotilla of 42 vessels carrying more than 450 people, among them parliamentarians, lawyers and activists – including the Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg – all of whom were arrested.
Dfat officials visited the detained Australians on Friday. McEwen told them of “degrading and humiliating treatment” after he was taken to the port of Ashdod, according to a report seen by Guardian Australia.
“He said his morale was low due to the degrading and humiliating treatment he had been enduring from Israeli prison guards and soldiers, including sleep deprivation techniques and physical intimidation,” the Dfat report read.
His mother, Jacinta McEwen, a former nurse, said she had been calling Dfat for daily updates and was concerned by the “full-on” conditions under which her son was being held.
“If he’s got a dislocated shoulder and he’s had a head injury and he hasn’t received any medical aid, I’m worried about that,” she said.
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McEwen said she believed her son’s deportation was being held up by his refusal to sign a form that would acknowledge that he had entered Israel illegally – the flotilla maintains it was illegally intercepted by the Israeli navy in international waters.
McEwen told Dfat officials that Israeli soldiers had torn up pages of his passport in front of him because his passport was microchipped. Both McEwen and Lamont threw their phones into the sea before their capture.
While McEwen said his arrest on board the Mia Mia had been executed with minimal force, Lamont – travelling on a different ship – said she had “humiliating” experience.
Lamont claimed her hands were zip-tied behind her back, she was sprayed with a water cannon and was left to sit in an unventilated area with her hands tied and clothes soaked for seven hours – a time during which she said her head was repeatedly shoved down by Israeli forces.
Both are being held in the Ketziot prison used primarily to detain Palestinian prisoners, many of whom Israel accuses of involvement in militant or terrorist activities.
After Australian officials visited Lamont they noted she was “emotionally distressed”, saying in a separate report that she had “cried multiple times during the visit”. The mother of two was reported feeling dehydrated, weak, dizzy and confused.
Lamont said a guard had warned her the water from taps was unsafe to drink and that she believed her dehydration was exacerbating her high blood pressure.
On the day of her arrest, after her daily medication was confiscated, Lamont said a doctor – after checking her blood pressure – had given her one dose of medication. But after Australian officials visited her they reported she was feeling weak, confused and lethargic and worried she was at risk of stroke. Her request to see a doctor again had received no response.
A Global Movement to Gaza Australia spokesperson, Talitha Mitchell, said she feared her friend was at risk of dying without access to medication.
Julie Webb-Pullman, the mother of another detained Australian, the Melbourne-based GP Bianca Webb-Pullman said she had received a call from Australian officials on Saturday giving her a verbal account of their visit to Ketziot prison.
Webb-Pullman said her daughter had reported that she had been subjected to abuse, humiliation, intimidation and was man-handled and shoved and left in a courtyard in the sun for five hours with no shade, food or water.
She also described a tap with contaminated water, meaning she had drunk no or little water in days.
Dfat responded to questions with a statement that said the Australian government had “made clear to Israel our expectation that detainees will receive humane treatment in line with international norms”.
“We repeat our call on Israel to enable the sustained, unimpeded flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza,” the statement said.
The Guardian contacted Israel’s prison service, the Israel Defense Forces, the Israel’s ministry for foreign affairs and the Israeli embassy in Australia but none have responded to a request for comment.
