Shurat HaDin has 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 that 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.
