Legal group urges ICC to prosecute Abbas over torture of Palestinians

“It is long past time that the PA was held accountable for their ongoing and systematic torture of the Palestinian people,” human rights attorney and ILF CEO Arsen Ostrovsky told World Israel News.

By Debbie Reiss, World Israel News

An Israel-based legal group has called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to prosecute Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas over the “widespread and systematic torture” of Palestinians, amid a probe by the UN Committee Against Torture against the PA.

The International Legal Forum (ILF) said the Palestinian Authority was also liable for the ongoing captivity in Gaza of four Israelis on the basis of its admission into the Rome Statute, the ICC’s founding treaty, in 2015. The bodies of IDF soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, as well as two civilians with a history of mental health issues, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, are being held by the Hamas terror group in Gaza.

Acts of torture against Palestinians, including political dissidents, women, minors, members of the LGBTQ community and alleged “collaborators” with Israel, include violent beatings, arbitrary detention, solitary confinement, inhumane prison conditions, harassment, forced confessions and summary executions.

“It is long past time that the Palestinian Authority was held accountable for their ongoing and systematic torture of the Palestinian people,” human rights attorney and ILF CEO Arsen Ostrovsky told World Israel News.

“These are egregious and indisputable violations of international law, which the ICC ought to investigate and prosecute accordingly,” he added.

The PA is signatory to the UN Convention Against Torture. Even though all 174 signatories are subject to review by CAT every four years, this week’s sessions marked the first time the PA has come under scrutiny. Ziad Hab al-Reeh, commander of the PA’s Preventive Security Service, headed a delegation of 17 senior PA officials at the panel review session on Monday and Tuesday. Hab al-Reeh, a longtime Fatah activist, was accused of being responsible for the torture and subsequent death of PA critic Nizar Banat.

Ostrovsky noted the absurdity in sending Hab al-Reeh to defend the PA to CAT. Hab al-Reeh, both in his current role and as former head of the Palestinian intelligence service, has oversight over the PA’s “infrastructure of torture,” Ostrovsky said.

“This is like sending Jack the Ripper as your Chief Counsel,” he quipped.

The ILF’s submission to the ICC comes on the heels of a visit to the region by Joe Biden, where the U.S. president touted almost $1 billion in aid to the Palestinians.

“One has to ask the question, therefore, are U.S. tax dollars now also going towards underwriting torture practices carried out by the Palestinian Authority?” Ostrovsky told World Israel News.