Raji Sourani was first harmed when his house in Gaza was bombed by Israeli F-16s. It was October, the third week of the war. A few days ago, a second attack on the apartment block it was located next to caused all the alarms in the area to be activated. Friends and members of international NGOs with whom this lawyer worked warned him that it would be best for him to leave Striptease. Date Legal activism in defense of Palestinian victims of occupation Israel made him a possible target. Sourani tried hundreds of cases in both the Hebrew courts and the International Criminal Court in The Hague. He says he does not want to leave the Strip, where he has lived his whole life, lest he contribute to a new “Nakba” or deportation. But he eventually gave up and “with the help of his friends” managed to cross the Rafah Crossing in Gaza with his wife and son on their way to safety in Egypt.
“They attacked me twice, it’s a miracle that we survived and are still breathing,” the Palestinian lawyer explained to this newspaper by phone from Egypt. “I spent my entire life under the Israeli regime: prisons, torture, wars. But I haven’t seen anything like what’s happening now. This is unprecedented. It crosses all boundaries. “Thousands of people are rotting under the rubble.”
human rights lawyer
Sourani is no ordinary lawyer; It is one of the most prestigious places in Palestine. He has received awards such as the Alternative Nobel (Right Livelihood), the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Prize or, more recently, the international award of the Spanish Association for Human Rights. Redirect Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), which Documents and investigates violations human rights It provides legal aid to victims and receives assistance in the form of subsidies from the Spanish International Development Cooperation Agency, which is affiliated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
His organization and others like Al Haq played a key role in the process that led to the launch of the investigation into crimes committed in the occupied Palestinian territories. International Criminal Court in 2021. This research is currently ongoing and, as this newspaper reports, already has a team dedicated to its development. Now they too have joined that path. half a thousand international lawyersGroup led by Frenchman Gilles Devers, who called for an investigation against Israel for allegations of war crimes and genocide.
flight from Gaza
“Working from there in these conditions was an impossible task, a luxury,” he laments. “They shoot at everything: houses, streets, towers of buildings, sewage system, power plants, hospitals, ambulances… They completely destroy them.” He assures that the war will not deter him from his efforts. “In that sense, nothing has changed. “That’s our backbone: ensuring justice for victims,” he says.
Sourani had previously filed a criminal complaint against the trend Hague Chief Prosecutor Karim Khanfor his inaction in the lawsuit filed by his predecessor. “Yes, with 30,000 dead [la cifra actual oficial es de 15.523] If it doesn’t act, there must be something I don’t know about and haven’t taken into account. “Khan has taken over the International Criminal Court and is choosing cases politically,” he says.
But in recent weeks, Britain’s Karim Khan has revived a possible case two years ago following the outbreak of this latest war in Gaza. war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide In conflicts carried out by both the Israeli Army and Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups in the occupied territories since 2014.
At a press conference at the Rafah border crossing in Egypt in November, Khan warned the Israeli Army that it had to justify every attack on civilian targets because these were protected by international law except in very concrete cases. He also filed a criminal complaint against Crimes that Hamas may commit At least 1,200 people lost their lives in the attacks against Israel on October 7.
The same Sunday, Khan visited the Palestinian capital Ramallah and met with President Mahmoud Abbas and conflict victims. “The pain is immense. My message is clear: This is an open investigation and a priority of my office. With determination, we move forward at a good paceHe also met with Israeli families of kidnappers or Hamas victims, he said in a video on X (formerly Twitter).
“Schools, hospitals and mosques cannot be bombed. The principles of discrimination, precaution and proportionality must always be applied.” […] “Children cannot be allowed to be slaughtered without light or anesthesia,” the Hague prosecutor added.
After escaping from GazaSourani and PCHR may contribute to the investigation of these alleged crimes directed by him.