A complaint with the constitution of a civil party against a Franco-Israeli soldier was filed this Tuesday by several associations. He is accused of torture, war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocideagainst civilians arrested in Gaza in January, according to information from franceinfo. This complaint, which franceinfo was able to consult, is brought by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and three Palestinian associations (Al-Haq, Al Mezan Center, and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights).
A first complaint against X was filed in April by three pro-Palestinian associations against this soldier, for the same facts. It was closed in September by the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office (Pnat), which considered that the facts were “insufficiently characterized”. Israeli offensive leaves at least 45,028 dead in Gaza Stripmostly civilians, according to the latest data on Monday from the Hamas Ministry of Health for Gaza, deemed reliable by the UN.
A soldier identified in a video published on X
The soldier targeted is a Franco-Israeli national, originally from Lyon, identified by these associations as being at the origin of a video published by an X account on March 19. On this video, qualified at the time “abject and shocking” through the Quai d'Orsay, he films a man shackled, blindfolded, half undressed, with a rope around his neck, being extracted from a truck. We hear a voice 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”. The video continues and we see several men crowded together, shackled, to whom the voice calls out “Were you happy on October 7?” and insults several times.
The complaint denounces the mistreatment inflicted on Gazan prisoners, subjected to physical abuse, beatings, drowning, electrocution, dog attacks, sexual and psychological abuse.
Intentional and systemic abuse, according to the complaint
She also emphasizes the “systemic” nature of these practices, and highlights the intentional nature of these acts which aim to “dehumanize” and “deny dignity”. “These are patterns that we found a lot in testimonies that were collected directly in Gaza, from surviving victims, with testimonies describing the presence of minors, children arrested and subjected to the same acts of torture, once again with first-hand accounts. This corresponds to perpetration patterns that are systematic“, denounces Clémence Bectarte, FIDH lawyer.
Filing a complaint with the creation of a civil party, as is the case here, allows you to contact an investigating judge directly to relaunch the investigation, despite the negative opinion rendered by the Pnat.
