The Jerusalem Institute of Justice, a nonprofit organization advocating democracy in the Middle East, announced over the weekend plans to file a complaint with the International Criminal Court in the Hague demanding it investigates Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In a statement, the JIJ said it plans to file its second request this year to the ICC on the matter on Sept. 13. The Group filed its first request for an ICC investigation in March 2017, asking it to investigate Haniyeh for the militarization of children under the age of 15, the use of civilians as human shields, and its rocket fire against Israel.
According to a Sunday report in the Jerusalem Post, the JIJ plans to argue that the Palestinian Authority's 2015 accession to the Rome Statute, the treaty that lends the ICC its power, and court's decision in that year to open a "preliminary examination into the situation in Palestine," opened the door to such suits.
"We contend that if any full investigation is to be pursued into crimes committed [by Palestine] then a case should be lodged against Haniyeh," the nongovernmental organization said.
According to the JIJ statement, the ICC grievance "provides evidence that Haniyeh is guilty of the war crime of conscripting, enlisting or using children below the age of 15 to participate actively in hostilities. Though this known colloquially as using 'child soldiers,' the crime also includes the use of children to support hostilities, including as 'human shields.'"
The JIJ maintains that Haniyeh should be held responsible for these activities because as the leader of Hamas, he could have prevented them, but has instead chosen to be an active proponent.
According to the report, the Jerusalem Institute plant to file a separate case against Haniyeh for crimes against humanity, over "physical and mental torture, ill-treatment, arbitrary detention, and unlawful killings" of Palestinian journalists, social media activists and political opponents.
The JIJ also took issue with Hamas's use of the death penalty, including against those charged with collaborating with Israel.
Haniyeh is responsible for those crimes as his role as "commander-in-chief of Gaza's Interior Ministry and Hamas' security forces," the NGO said.
Evidence also suggests that Haniyeh's policies incited Hamas authorities to commit these crimes, it said.
The Jerusalem Institute of Justice said it also plans to ask the ICC to investigate Abbas for such crimes as he has "conducted a systematic and widespread campaign of consistent torture and abuse against the Palestinian people with a blatant disregard for their basic human rights."
The NGO said that the Palestinian Authority's security forces have "engaged in severe beatings, arbitrary arrests, psychological torture such as violent threats and verbal abuse, physical torture, severe solitary confinement, and other acts of inhumane treatment."
The JIJ noted that its dealings with The Hague have been slow to progress and that it had yet to receive a response to its March 2017 petition.
