A new complaint for torture, war crimes, genocide and complicity against a Franco-Israeli soldier who is the author of a video showing men presented as Palestinian prisoners in degrading conditions has been filed in Paris , human rights organizations announced this Tuesday, December 17, 2024.
A first simple complaint was filed at the beginning of September by the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office (Pnat), competent in matters of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
According to a judicial source, the Pnat considered that the facts appeared “insufficiently characterized”. “The elements provided in support of the complaint are not sufficient to establish the existence of possible material acts of complicity”, added this source.
“Our organizations are becoming civil parties to combat the inertia of the prosecution”affirm in their press release the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and its Palestinian and French member organizations Al-Haq, Al Mezan, Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) and the Human Rights League (LDH).
A video at the heart of the complaint
At the heart of the complaint, a video published in particular on March 19 on
A man appears shackled, blindfolded, appearing to wear a rope around his neck and wearing an open white jumpsuit revealing his upper body. He was taken out of a vehicle by soldiers in khaki military uniform.
We hear a voice speaking French say “have you seen those bastards, my nephew? […] he pissed himself. I'll show you his back, you'll laugh, they tortured him to make him talk”amid a flood of insults.
“Prisoners of war”
In the video of less than a minute, several men are also filmed, blindfolded and covered in the same suit. They are crammed into what appears to be a van and should, according to the associations, be considered as “prisoners of war”.
“You were happy on October 7, you sons of bitches”, launches the voice again, in reference to the unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in the south of Israel, which led to the death of 1,208 people on the Israeli side, the majority civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data and including hostages who died or were killed in captivity in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli offensive has left at least 45,028 dead in the Gaza Strip, the majority civilians, according to the latest data on Monday from the Hamas Ministry of Health for Gaza, deemed reliable by the UN.
“Urgent for France to investigate”
According to the information collected by the complainants, the soldier targeted by the complaint admitted to being the author of the video.
By witnessing the events and filming them, this Franco-Israeli soldier was guilty, at a minimum, of complicity in torture, war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, the plaintiffs accuse.
“It is urgent that France investigates, prosecutes and punishes its nationals involved in international crimes, including in the genocide in Gaza”said Shawan Jabarin, general director of the Al-Haq association, quoted in the press release.
Torture
Through testimonies they have collected, the complainants relate in their complaint consulted by AFP a general context of attacks on physical integrity and humiliating and degrading treatment towards Palestinian prisoners.
The associations rely on reports from UN bodies documenting ill-treatment, comparable to torture: physical violence (beatings, simulated drownings, electric shocks, cigarette burns, etc.) as well as sexual and psychological violence.
“Faced with the scale of the crimes committed, the investigation carried out by the ICC is not enough. Each State which can exercise its jurisdiction must open judicial investigations”defend in the press release Messrs Clémence Bectarte and Alexis Deswaef, lawyers for some of the plaintiffs.
On November 21, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister Yoav Gallant – dismissed a few days earlier – and the head of Hamas' armed wing. , Mohammed Deif, for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
