Response to interpellation 2025/26:89 on the government's actions following Israel's attack on the Global Sumud Flotilla
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns the government's actions following Israel's attack on the Global Sumud Flotilla. M argues that the laws of war give Israel room to control ships on international waters 1 and that the government does not intend to pursue demands for compensation 1. M claims that UD's assessment of information from the embassy staff does not correspond with reports of torture 2. M argues that the embassy in Tel Aviv carried out an extensive consular operation 3 and that it is unreasonable to accuse them of complicity in crimes against international law or corruption 3. The (-)-party argues that the government does not stand up for international law when they refuse to see the systematic violence and the kidnapping of nine Swedish citizens 4.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
TREDJE VICE TALMANNEN
With reference to our experience here in the chamber regarding certain subjects, I would like to remind that the chamber's deliberations must not be disturbed by spectators in the gallery. Should this occur, the person causing the disturbance will be removed from the gallery.
Utrikesministern Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)
Madam Speaker! Lorena Delgado Varas has asked me if I intend to formally condemn Israel's attack on the Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters and what concrete measures the government has taken and intends to take to protect Swedish citizens suspected of having been kidnapped during this attack. She has also asked whether the government has demanded an official apology, compensation, and accountability from Israel for what is alleged regarding the attack, the kidnapping, and the confiscation of property.
Furthermore, Delgado Varas has asked me if I intend to raise the issue within the EU and the UN to push for an international legal process against those responsible, and whether Sweden will act to ensure protection for future humanitarian missions to Gaza, in line with international humanitarian law and the UN Charter.
I want to begin by emphasizing that the laws of war give Israel a certain scope to stop and control ships on international waters as well as to bring the ships and their crew to a safe port. If Israel uses this scope, they also have a responsibility for the safety of the persons who are under its control.
UD and the Swedish embassy in Tel Aviv have had recurring contact with Israeli authorities regarding the flotilla since long before the voyage was stopped off the coast of Gaza. Sweden clearly expressed our expectation that the voyage could be carried out peacefully and without violence, and that Israel would act in accordance with international law. When participants chose not to follow the calls to turn around and the ships were subsequently stopped, we particularly emphasized the importance of the safety of Swedish citizens and their consular rights being respected, and we received confirmation from Israel that these commitments would be met.
During the detention, continuous contact was maintained with Israeli authorities. We pointed out and expressed concern regarding reports of degrading treatment and emphasized the importance of ensuring that the detainees were guaranteed access to medicine, food, and water. I personally had direct contact with Israel's Foreign Minister, while staff at UD and the embassy in Tel Aviv repeatedly reiterated our demands that Swedish citizens be treated correctly.
UD sent reinforcements from Stockholm to support the embassy in Tel Aviv ahead of the expected consular operation.
After the detained Swedes had been deported, UD continued the dialogue with Israel and requested clarifications regarding the media reports concerning the treatment of the Swedes. Israel has denied that any form of violation, assault, or other ill-treatment of the Swedish citizens has taken place and has emphasized that the detainees have been treated in accordance with Israeli legislation.
During the flotilla's voyage towards Gaza, our embassies in Madrid, Rome, Tunis, Nicosia and Athens also worked closely with the issue. Throughout the events, continuous contact and coordination were also maintained with other countries whose citizens participated, as well as with Nordic and European colleagues at the capital level.
The Government does not intend to pursue demands for compensation and accountability against Israel. The Government also does not intend to initiate an international legal process in the matter.
Israel has a special responsibility under international humanitarian law to provide for the needs of the civilian population in Gaza. For this, unhindered, safe, and sustained humanitarian access is required. It is therefore very welcome and long-awaited that Israel and Hamas have reached an agreement on the first phase of a peace plan. This plan, and its crucial requirement for a ceasefire, is, as is known, under heavy pressure. The plan also exempts no party from its obligations under international humanitarian law, including regarding the protection of civilians and humanitarian access.
The government has since the beginning of the war intensified the demands on Israel to ensure unimpeded access for the UN, international non-governmental organizations, and humanitarian partners throughout Gaza. Together with other donors, Sweden has urged the Israeli government to grant permission for non-governmental organizations' aid shipments and to lift the blockade on the activities of humanitarian actors.
Lorena Delgado Varas (-)
Madam Speaker! Wow! I expected the Minister to give an evasive answer, but this answer is not only devoid of empathy, it is once again an answer where one excuses Israel's crimes – this time against Swedish citizens.
The Minister refers to the laws of war – during an ongoing genocide. The laws of war make it okay to attack Swedish citizens in international waters.
Minister! Your answer is not only wrong, it is also a matter of active complicity in a system of crimes against international law.
The Minister defends Israel's right to attack and kidnap us in international waters. I was there. The violence we experienced was not unique. It is the same system that holds thousands of Palestinians, including children, imprisoned without trial in the same prison that I and my comrades sitting in the gallery were imprisoned in. Not even when it concerns Swedish citizens is this government willing to let go of Israel's hand. Some of those who were subjected to torture and harassment as well as a lack of food and water, and who were not given access to their medicines, despite screaming for them repeatedly, are up in the gallery.
I saw Swedish women with bruises all over their bodies. I saw comrades who were dehydrated due to the lack of clean water. I myself had to endure beatings and squats for hours, was pulled by the hair and threatened during the nights, just like all my comrades, with laser sights aimed at our heads. But those are the laws of war.
The difference is that we Swedes have a passport that, after a couple of days, resulted in us being released. For the Palestinians, there is no way out. They are systematically subjected to torture, disappearances, and being killed. This is something that the UN and all major human rights organizations have documented for years. It is interesting that the minister can sit and laugh when I tell about this.
You say that you work diplomatically. But when you refuse to condemn the kidnapping of us, what does your message say to the Palestinian families whose relatives disappear in the same prison system? It says that Sweden accepts this, that we look the other way.
Minister! You are not only denying my and other Swedes' experience, but you are also denying an entire people's suffering.
The Minister! You accept Israel's abuse of us. Will the Minister also accept their denial of the gang rapes, the torture, and the extrajudicial executions reported from the Palestinian prisons? Where does the Minister draw the line?
Utrikesministern Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)
Madam Speaker! This is primarily about the UD's consular activities. It is a constitutionally regulated core task for the Foreign Affairs Administration. The consular support, including for those deprived of liberty, is provided in an equal, objective, and impartial manner in accordance with the consular framework. The consular issues are handled by a professional, committed, and experienced organization.
When a Swedish citizen is deprived of liberty abroad, local legislation always applies. Sweden cannot influence or intervene in other countries' legal processes. At the same time, human rights must always be respected. When it is warranted, for example in cases of arbitrary detention or reports of inhuman or degrading treatment, we can act. How we act depends on the circumstances of the individual case and on any risks to the individual.
Conditions and regulatory frameworks in different countries vary and can affect the prerequisites for providing consular support. If, for example, UD has a travel advisory for a country, it is a clear signal that our possibilities to provide consular support are limited. That is why we place great emphasis on our tools, such as travel information and various forms of advisories, to reduce the risk of Swedish citizens ending up in difficult or dangerous situations.
The situation in Gaza remains very serious, which is why UD has for some time advised against all travel there. We also urged the Swedes on this sailing to turn back, because the government has no means to provide consular assistance or any other assistance at sea.
Had one followed our advice to sail to another port, one could also have brought in the supplies that one wanted to bring into Gaza, which I perceived to be the main purpose of the voyage.
I also want to emphasize the enormous work the embassy did on the ground to ensure the Swedish citizens' consular rights. As one of the few countries, one actually also had the opportunity to make two visits to the prison.
Everything we say and do is ultimately about protecting Swedish citizens from risks or situations where there is a risk that we cannot help them out of. But in every situation, we do everything we can to support them in the best possible way.
Lorena Delgado Varas (-)
Madam Speaker! I am not directly impressed. I expected more.
It is said that UD's consular support is provided in an equal manner and that local legislation applies. But no condemnations are issued, even though one could do so. Local legislation from Israel does not have to govern. More faith is placed in the genocidal state than in the testimonies of nine Swedish citizens where they repeatedly tell the embassy staff what they are being subjected to.
I wonder about one thing, Minister. The advice also applies to other parts of the world, does it not? What would happen if Russia were to take Swedes providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine and torture them? Would one be silent then? Would one respect Russian legislation when it comes to condemning the kidnapping and the abuse?
The Minister simply accepts Israel's denial of our abuse. If one can deny our abuse, it only shows that one can absolutely deny also the rape and the torture that the Palestinians have to live with, or not.
We Swedes got to taste the Palestinian reality, but we were released. Thousands of Palestinians today have their reality in the same prison and in other places with a life sentence without having been given a chance for justice.
I can tell the minister that we in the notorious prison found traces of the Palestinians who are held there. We found a letter from a youth who had been held in administrative detention for six months and who missed his mother. He had been imprisoned without evidence, without a verdict. He had simply been imprisoned. So it is for thousands of Palestinians. They are simply kidnapped by the Israeli state.
In another letter that was found, it was described that they would leave the cell two days before we arrived at the prison. They were therefore in the same cells as we were. I myself found a prayer rope made of bread. I saw the same kind of prayer rope a couple of days later on released kidnapped Palestinians, when some of them were allowed to leave.
I still want to ask a question. I wonder, in fact, why the minister considers themselves to have the right to define that Israel, according to the laws of war, has the right to attack us. What is it that gives the minister the right to say that Israel had the right to attack us when we were in international waters with humanitarian aid, civilian and peaceful?
It goes completely against, for example, the UN Human Rights Committee, which argues that there is nothing legal in that we were attacked. Does the minister interpret the laws as she wants, or is it Israel's interpretation that applies?
Utrikesministern Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)
Madam Speaker! For the first point, I have no knowledge that any group of Swedish citizens have traveled to Ukraine and requested consular assistance to get out of there.
Secondly, I want to emphasize that the scope of the laws of war for stopping and controlling ships also applies on international waters.
But I also want to emphasize that Israel has a special responsibility under international humanitarian law to meet the needs of the civilian population in Gaza and to ensure unimpeded, safe, and sustained humanitarian access. The UN and other humanitarian actors must be able to work independently and impartially to save lives and alleviate suffering. The Government has consistently, both bilaterally and through the EU, underscored Israel's obligation to act in accordance with international law, including international humanitarian law.
Sweden has on several occasions, both before, during and after the deprivation of liberty that this interpellation concerns, clearly emphasized to Israel the importance that the persons who are under their control shall be treated correctly and with full respect for their rights.
At the same time, it must be reminded that deprivations of liberty occur according to the legislation that applies in the country, which I said earlier. Our role is not to influence that legal process but to ensure that Swedish citizens receive the consular support that is possible and also to emphasize the importance of their rights being respected in accordance with international law.
I stand by what has been expressed earlier: If anyone had been subjected to violence or torture, this should also have clearly emerged in connection with the meetings with the embassy staff. UD or the embassy have no interest whatsoever in either embellishing or concealing any information, but they take the information that has been presented regarding the abusive treatment of the Swedish citizens very seriously. Information regarding assault and torture does not correspond with UD's assessment of the information that the embassy staff conveyed after the conversations with the detainees.
Lorena Delgado Varas (-)
Madam Speaker! There is something very corrupt and rotten in the system, I must say. I was myself a witness to how we reported to the embassy staff about our injuries and what we had been through. I was myself a witness to it, and I am myself exposed. I do not know what the minister is talking about. There is something that is incredibly wrong here. Either the minister does not have good contact with the embassy – then that is a problem in itself – or someone is not telling the truth.
The Minister mentions that Israel has the right to stop and check us according to the laws of war. They can stop and check but not attack, not kidnap, not imprison, not torture and not mistreat. We should not have to wake up with laser sights in our faces. No, that shall not be tolerated, and it shall always be condemned, especially by the minister who has responsibility for Swedish citizens. My God!
The Minister and the Swedish government cannot say that they stand up for international law and at the same time refuse to see what happened to nine Swedish citizens in Israeli prisons when they were kidnapped. They cannot say that they stand up for international law when they cannot even do so and absolutely do not stand up for the suffering of the Palestinian people.
You cannot say that you support human rights and at the same time refuse to see the systematic violence that this state carries out against everyone who even dares to come anywhere near.
Utrikesministern Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)
Madam Speaker! I want to emphasize that the embassy in Tel Aviv managed to carry out a very extensive consular effort despite the difficult situation that prevailed and despite the fact that the journey took place against our advice. The embassy staff traveled to the prison as soon as it was possible and met the Swedes at the times that were permitted. Sweden had continuous contact with Israel throughout the entire period, both in Stockholm and in Tel Aviv, to emphasize that the detainees must be treated correctly. Despite the fact that the participants deliberately chose to travel into a dangerous situation and despite that we clearly clarified our limited possibilities, UD and the embassy provided extensive support that corresponded to or exceeded what many other countries could offer their citizens. That their effort is now being questioned is, in my opinion, completely unreasonable.
Another thing that is completely unreasonable is that the interpellor stands here in the chamber and claims that we actively assisted in a system of violations of international law and accuses us of corruption. These are extremely serious allegations.
In conclusion: That this sailor stands here and claims she has been kidnapped is nothing other than a mockery of the hostage who was held captive for two years. Far too many came home in coffins.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.