Jerusalem
CNN
—
The circle of relatives of a Palestinian activist who died whilst in Palestinian Authority custody has filed a “war crimes and torture” case with the International Criminal Court, they stated Thursday.
Nizar Banat, a well known Palestinian critic of the Palestinian Authority (PA) with a big social media following, died in Palestinian police custody in Hebron in June 2021. His dying sparked mass protests and offended condemnation of the Palestinian Authority from main figures within the West Bank and past.
In a remark from The Hague, Banat’s brother Ghassan Khalil Moh’d Banat stated the circle of relatives felt the want to move to the ICC for “an unpoliticized investigation and prosecution of criminals.”
“When my brother was assassinated, he was becoming a prominent opponent to (Palestinian Authority President) Mahmoud Abbas, just by saying the truth about this corrupt and authoritarian regime. The way they killed him and are trying to get away with it reflects the level of impunity and of moral corruption that plague this regime,” Banat stated.
The Palestinian Authority charged 14 officials after Banat’s dying. Banat’s circle of relatives stated the officials have been “low ranking” and the trial “farcical,” and that no senior officer was once wondered.
Amnesty International stated it was once a contravention of human rights requirements to carry the investigation and trial prior to an army relatively than a civilian court docket. On the one-year anniversary of Banat’s dying, Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, known as the army justice procedure a “smokescreen to protect those higher up.”
The circle of relatives’s lawyer Hakan Camuz stated Thursday the case is the primary time a Palestinian is bringing the Palestinian Authority to the ICC.
“The PA has been a State party to the ICC since 2015. Yet, it has always been devised as a protection against the crimes of Israel against Palestinians. Sadly, under the leadership of Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority has become another oppressor for the Palestinian people, just as much as Israel,” Camuz stated in a remark. “Nizar Banat was killed because he shed the light on this regime’s corruption and violence. We are seeking justice for him, for his family but also for the whole people of Palestine.”
CNN has requested the Palestinian Authority Presidency for remark at the case. CNN has additionally requested the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC to verify it has won the case record.
