German Gaza-Flotilla Activist Accuses Israeli Prison Guards of Rape

Anna Liedtke, a 25‑year‑old German activist who sailed with a humanitarian flotilla to Gaza, says her vessel was intercepted in international waters on 8 October and she was detained for five days in Israel’s Givon prison. Liedtke alleges that during a third strip‑search she was forced onto her knees, had her mouth covered and was raped by female prison guards while male guards watched and laughed from behind a partially drawn curtain.

She filed a criminal complaint with the Israeli attorney general, the prison service’s legal adviser, the department investigating prison guards, and the commander of Givon prison. Liedtke’s lawyer, Muna Haddad of the Palestinian human‑rights group Adalah, describes the complaint as a challenge to a “culture of impunity” and says it reflects systematic sexual violence used to intimidate activists. More than a dozen other flotilla participants have reported similar assaults, though most remain anonymous.