NEWS & VIEWS

Press Release

9 June 2013

 

Petition to Israeli Supreme Court – Order Investigation of Senior Israeli Officials for Alleged War Crimes

 

Without a genuine criminal investigation by the Israeli authorities universal jurisdiction could be applied in other countries to seek arrest, investigation and prosecution of Israeli officials.

 

Today a petition was filed with the Israeli Supreme Court requesting it to order the Israeli Attorney General and Military Advocate General to investigate senior Israeli officials for alleged war crimes perpetrated during the 2006 Israel – Lebanon war, Operation “Cast Lead” in Gaza in December 2008 – January 2009, and the Flotilla incident of May 2010. The petition is composed of 52 pages and 35 appendices.

 

This is the first legal activity of Grotius – Center for International Law and Human Rights, a public interest company registered in February 2013, and is based in Haifa, Israel. It is filed by its Executive Director attorney Marwan Dalal and follows extensive correspondence with the Attorney General’s office over the past two years. Respondents are the senior officials in addition to the Attorney General and the Military Judge Advocate.

 

The petition alleges that senior Israeli officials are responsible for willful killing, willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health and extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly. These crimes are grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, 12 August 1949, as defined in article 147 of the convention.

 

Statements and conduct of senior officials in the Israeli government and military in support of targeting civilians and civilian objects are detailed in the petition as documented in the Winograd Commission report regarding the 2006 Israel – Lebanon war and the Turkel Commission report regarding the Flotilla incident. Both Commissions critiqued the investigative mechanism of the Israeli military. The Turkel Commission also highlighted the flawed investigative conduct that produced the Eiland report, which was prepared by a committee appointed by Chief of Staff Ashkenazi that examined the military conduct during the Flotilla incident.

 

Factual and legal findings of United Nations, the Arab League and international human rights organizations reports are underscored: the Goldstone and Dugard reports on Operation “Cast Lead”, the Palmer and Hudson – Philips reports regarding the Flotilla incident, the Soares report on the Israel – Lebanon war and the reports of Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

The petition elaborates on individual criminal responsibility under Israeli law and international criminal law and references jurisprudence of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Court. Attorney Dalal argued that without a genuine criminal investigation by the Israeli authorities, universal jurisdiction could be applied in other countries to seek arrest, investigation and prosecution of Israeli officials. Under international law there is no statute of limitation and immunity for such crimes.

Attached is the petition HCJ 4090/13.

 

For additional information please contact:

Marwan Dalal, Executive Director