(Join Now) Hold Israel Accountable for the Genocide of the Palestinians (~May 8) – 참여연대

We are filing charges against Israeli war criminals with South Korean law enforcement authorities to hold them accountable for war crimes and STOP the genocide. Join our legal action as a co-plaintiff and spread the word! 🙏

Non-Korean citizens can also join this legal action as co-plaintiffs.

Join us in the people’s legal action
Hold Israel responsible for the genocide of the Palestinians

“The Palestinians in Gaza no longer only face the risk of famine, but that famine is spreading…. The State of Israel will take all necessary and effective measures to ensure without delay the unhindered delivery on a large scale by all stakeholders of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance.”
– International Court of Justice (ICJ), order of 28 March 2024 on interim measures

“The current humanitarian situation for civilians in Gaza is beyond catastrophic. Millions of lives are at risk of hunger. An urgent and unhindered flow of humanitarian aid must be ensured to reach those in need. Not tomorrow, but now.”
– Jagan Chapagain, Secretary General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), April 7, 2024

Israel deliberately uses ‘starvation’ as a weapon

Children crying from hunger and dying from malnutrition; people approaching emergency vehicles under gunfire; people who survive on animal feed and soup made from leaves and grass.

A severe famine has hit the northern Gaza Strip. 1.1 million people in Gaza – half the population – face catastrophic hunger and starvation, having completely exhausted their food supplies and self-reliance capabilities. One in three children under the age of two is acutely malnourished or malnourished; 28 children have already died from malnutrition.

Vehicles carrying relief supplies essential for survival cannot reach the people of Gaza. This is because Israel’s consent is required to send aid to northern Gaza, but Israel deliberately uses ‘starvation’ as a weapon to control the entry of aid. Hundreds of unauthorized emergency vehicles are currently being stopped at the border. Israeli forces repeatedly opened fire on Palestinians who approached the emergency vehicles that narrowly managed to enter Gaza, calling them “threatening.” The Israeli attacks on aid workers are also unrelenting. About 500 Gazans have been killed while trying to receive aid, and more than 200 aid workers have been killed. It is also common for people to drown after jumping into the sea to retrieve air-dropped aid.

Israel must take “all measures within its power” to prevent genocide

Israel’s indiscriminate attack on the Gaza Strip is now in its sixth month. The death toll in Gaza has exceeded 33,899, with 76,664 injured (as of April 17). There is no safe place in Gaza; Israel indiscriminately bombs schools, hospitals, churches, mosques, UN facilities or universities, and more. Israel claims that more than two-thirds of the victims are Hamas members, but more than two-thirds of the victims are children and women.

Israel, which has illegally occupied Palestinian lands, is violating international law and committing war crimes in flagrant disregard of international society’s strong calls for a ceasefire. On January 26, 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel is likely to commit genocide in Gaza, and ordered Israel to take all measures to prevent this. However, in the 50 days following the International Court of Justice order, Israeli forces killed approximately 7,100 Gazans. On March 25, 2024, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, but even after the resolution was passed, Israel mobilized warplanes to continue its bombardment of Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city to make. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has remained steadfast in his determination to impose a ground invasion of Rafah, where 1.4 million of Gaza’s estimated total population of 2.3 million have sought shelter. This is completely unacceptable.

Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, noted that “the overwhelming nature and scale of Israel’s attack on Gaza and the destructive living conditions it has caused indicate an intention to physically destroy Palestinians. a group.” The Albanians also emphasized that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Israel has committed the following three of the five crimes under the Genocide Convention: killing members of the group; causing serious physical or mental harm to the members of a group; and the intentional imposition of living conditions on the group intended to bring about its physical destruction, in whole or in part. Mexico and Chile have called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate Israel’s alleged war crimes.

📢 Join our legal action to hold Israel accountable for genocide (Deadline: May 8)

We cannot allow this genocide to continue. We must act what we can to stop Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians. Please join us as a co-plaintiff to bring charges against Israeli war criminals before South Korean law enforcement authorities. Non-Korean citizens can also join this legal action as co-plaintiffs. Join us in holding accountable those responsible for the genocide being committed, while the whole world watches!

In 2007, South Korea introduced the ‘Law on the Punishment of Crimes Under the Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court’. Under this law, not only the International Criminal Court, but also South Korean law enforcement can investigate and punish those responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Suspects

• Prime Minister of Israel: Benjamin Netanyahu
• President of Israel: Isaac Herzog
• Israeli Defense Minister: Yoav Gallant
• Israeli Minister of National Security: Itamar Ben-Gvir
• Israeli Foreign Minister: Israel Katz
• Chief of the General Staff of the Israeli Army: Herzi Halevi

Main allegations

• Crime of genocide
• Humanitarian crimes
• War crimes against humanitarian activities, distinctive emblems, etc.
• War crimes involving the use of prohibited substances
• War crimes using banned weapons

Law on the Punishment of Crimes Under the Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court

• Article 8 (crime of genocide) (1) Any person who kills a member of a national, racial, ethnic or religious group with intent to destroy the group in whole or in part shall be punishable by death or imprisonment for life or for not less than seven years.
• Article 9 (Crimes against humanity) (1) Any person who has killed another person by carrying out an extensive or systematic attack against a civilian population in connection with the policy of the State, organizations or institutions to commit such attack shall be punishable by death or imprisonment for life or for not less than seven years.
• Article 12 (War crimes against humanitarian activities, distinctive emblems, etc.) (1) Whoever commits any of the following acts in connection with international or non-international armed conflict shall be punished with a prison sentence of at least three years.
• Article 13 (War crimes involving prohibited substances) (1) Whoever commits any of the following acts in connection with international or non-international armed conflict shall be punishable by life imprisonment or not less than three years.
• Article 14 (War crimes involving prohibited weapons) (1) Any person who uses any of the following weapons in connection with international or non-international armed conflict shall be punishable by life imprisonment or not less than five years.

This criminal charge is based on Article 3(5) of the Law on the Punishment of Crimes Under the Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, which states that “This law shall apply to any foreigner who commits the crime of genocide, etc. outside the territory of the Republic of Korea and resides in the territory of the Republic of Korea.” However, since the suspects in this case are currently not in the Republic of Korea, it is highly likely that the investigation will be closed without being opened on grounds of lack of jurisdiction.

Nevertheless, we are preparing to file charges with South Korean law enforcement against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others responsible for the genocide of the Palestinians for the following reasons:

1. War crimes, such as the murder of civilians, are also covered by the ‘Geneva Convention (IV) relating to the Protection of Civilians in Time of War (12 August 1949)’. Article 146 of the Geneva Conventions provides that ‘Each High Contracting Party shall have the duty to search for persons suspected of having committed, or to have ordered, such grave offenses and to commit such persons, irrespective of their nationality, to prison to bring. before his own courts.” As a signatory to the above-mentioned treaties, the Republic of Korea is obliged to investigate and prosecute those who commit war crimes, regardless of their nationality or presence in the country. Even if our charges are dismissed, we will file another criminal case and strongly demand that an investigation be opened if the suspects enter South Korea.
2. This indictment is a clear message of protest to Israel to stop committing war crimes. In particular, bringing charges by specifically naming those responsible for genocide and war crimes and promoting the widespread publicity of this action will send a strong message that war criminals must be remembered and punished.

People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) and Asian Dignity Initiative (ADI) aim to rally 5,000 co-plaintiffs around the world to criminally prosecute those responsible for Israel’s genocide of the Palestinians. Please join our legal action as a co-plaintiff to hold Israel accountable for war crimes, STOP the genocide, and spread the message!

For questions, please contact People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) (+82-2-723-4250, [email protected]) / Asian Dignity Initiative (ADI) (+82-2-568-7723, adi@adians . net)