‘They want to break our will’: Gaza flotilla activist tells of rape in Israeli detention

Anna Liedtke, a 25-year-old activist on a humanitarian aid flotilla to Gaza, has filed a criminal complaint in Israel alleging rape by female prison guards during her detention in October. Liedtke claims she was subjected to multiple illegal strip-searches, with the most severe incident involving being forced to her knees, having her mouth covered, and raped while male guards allegedly watched and laughed. She believes the abuse, which occurred after Israeli forces intercepted her boat in international waters, was intended to "break our will and silence us."

• Liedtke was detained for five days in Israel after her boat was intercepted on October 8.
• Her lawyers, from the Palestinian human rights organization Adalah, have sent the complaint to the Israeli attorney general and other authorities, challenging a "culture of impunity" for prisoner abuse.
• Liedtke is the first flotilla activist to publicly report rape in Israeli detention, though over a dozen others have reported sexual assault anonymously.
• The UN added Israel to a blacklist for sexual violence in conflict in May, and other countries are investigating similar allegations from flotilla participants.