In January, an Israeli soldier fled Brazil with the help of the Israeli embassy, to evade arrest after a Brazilian judge ordered police to detain him on a criminal complaint brought by the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF).
The complaint accused the soldier of “participating in massive demolitions of civilian homes in Gaza during a systematic campaign of destruction.”
In July, Belgium became the first European country to act upon a complaint filed by the HRF – which was set up specifically to pursue legal accountability for war crimes committed in Gaza – as well as the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN).
The Belgian public prosecutor’s office instructed the Belgian police to identify, arrest and interrogate two Israeli soldiers as they attended the Tomorrowland Festival near Antwerp. The soldiers were released after interrogation, but the Belgian Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office announced that it would “refer the files to the International Criminal Court (ICC).”
HRF has filed similar arrest requests in 23 countries.
In Bogota, Colombia, meanwhile, 12 countries signed a declaration in July at the behest of the The Hague Group that, among other measures, included support for universal jurisdiction mandates, a legal principle that allows individual states to prosecute war criminals no matter where the crimes were committed.
In response to such moves, the Israeli military has been forced to advise several of its soldiers not to travel for fear of arrest when abroad. Israeli media have even published a guide for Israelis on how to avoid arrest when holidaying abroad. (more...)
Why won’t Britain arrest Israeli war criminals?
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