The Palestinian Authority sent a letter Friday urging the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court at The Hague “to prevent the continuation and perpetuation of crimes against the Palestinian people” by Israel.”
The letter was sent by PA Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Riyad Malki to ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, calling on her to “exercise her statutory authority, without delay,” according to the official WAFA news agency.
The Ramallah government claimed the arrest and detention of 16-year-old Ahed Tamimi, who was indicted on a host of charged that include assault and incitement to violence and terrorism, is “in violation of the Conventions on the Rights of the Child and against Torture, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Fourth Geneva Convention and amounting to crimes under the Rome Statute.”
Malki said in his letter, “These wide spread and systematic practices form an integral part of the system of oppression and racism the Israeli government employs against the Palestinian people. Ahed’s case merely serves as further proof of well-established Israeli policies of severe and discriminatory deprivation of fundamental rights of Palestinians.”
Israel’s Military Court last week ordered the continued remand of the Nabi Saleh teenage soldier-slapper and IDF incitement video star pending her upcoming trial. Tamimi was indicted on multiple counts of assaulting law enforcement officers, using a slingshot to hurl stones at Israeli soldiers, and incitement to commit suicide terrorist attacks.
Since Tamimi’s arrest, NGOs claiming to promote human rights have been calling for her release, primarily on the basis of her age as well as the political motivations surrounding the incidents.
But according to Lt. Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch, former head of prosecution in Judea and Samaria, and Military Justice Consultant at the NGO Monitor watchdog organization, authorities in most Western countries would also have arrested Tamimi and held for her actions. “Tamimi’s repeated attacks on security forces, other violent crimes, and incitement to terrorism would in most, if not all, Western legal systems warrant her arrest pending trial,” Hirsch pointed out.