Shurat HaDin filed a formal complaint on 18 January 2021 against the ICC Prosecutor for biased and unethical conduct.
As reported by Shurat HaDin (see documents below):
The Shurat HaDin Law Center in Tel-Aviv filed a formal complaint against the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Fatou Bensouda, and her staff. The complaint, sent to the Independent Oversight Mechanism of the ICC, accuses Bensouda of the deliberate disregard and bias in the handling of the numerous petitions and communications filed by the Law Center over the past six years. Many of Shurat HaDin’s communications focused upon allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity which have been committed by the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas leadership. These complaints brought before the Prosecutor’s office overwhelmingly evidence the crimes such as torture in Palestinian prisons, arbitrary executions, the ‘pay to slay’ scheme administered by PA officials, the illegal use of children in an armed conflict, the use of human shields and more.
Even as Bensouda was deliberating ignoring and purposefully avoiding the charges Shurat HaDin has raised, she has steadily continued her office’s investigation of Israel and the IDF. The Office of the Prosecutor has not even materially replied to these complaints. Furthermore, while supposedly reviewing a complaint filed by Shurat HaDin against PA President Mahmoud Abu Abbas, for his criminal responsibility for crimes committed by his subordinates, Bensouda had conducted a meeting with him regarding her office’s examination of the Palestinian contentions against Israel.
Judging the Office of Prosecutor’s handling of the Shurat HaDin complaints and her refusal to respond, it becomes clear that Bensouda has an extreme anti-Israel bias and should be removed from any matters dealing with the Jewish State and the Palestinians.
“The Independent Oversight Mechanism needs to act at once and show its impartiality and seriousness. It is inconceivable that an investigative body, that claims to review the Israeli justice system’s handling of war crimes, or any other judicial system, will not comply with the minimal standards expected from them,” stated Nitsana Darshan Leitner, president of Shurat HaDin, “When it comes to complaints against Palestinian officials’ responsibility, the Prosecutor’s mailbox turns into a black hole, where all complaints disappear. No complaint was ever investigated and no material response is ever supplied. While Shurat HaDin’s complaints and our requests to meet with the prosecutor were left unanswered, we learned from the media that when it comes to Pro-Palestinian organizations – Bensouda would always make time to provide an audience with them. This, regretfully, serves as nothing but a blunt illustration of the biased handling of the State of Israel by the ICC.”
Communications to the Prosecutor’s Office referenced in the 18 Jan 2021 letter
- Communication to the Prosecutor, 2 Sep 2014, re: Khaled Mashal
- Communication to the Prosecutor, 11 Nov 2014, re: Mahmoud Abbas
- Communication to the Prosecutor, 5 Jan 2015, re: Jibril Rajoub
- Communication to the Prosecutor, 5 Jan 2015, re: Majid Faraj
- Communication to the Prosecutor, 5 Jan 2015, re: Rami Hamdallah
- Communication to the Prosecutor, 3 Sep 2018, re: Khaled Mashal, Saleh Al-Arouri, Zaher Jabarin
- Letter from Shurat HaDin to the Prosecutor, 25 Nov 2019
- Letter from Shurat HaDin to the Prosecutor, 8 Jan 2020
- Letter from Shurat HaDin to the Prosecutor, 6 Sep 2020