Many Judea and Samaria Arabs who were exposed as collaborators with Israel were allegedly tortured by the Palestinian Authority, and some of them have decided to file claims of human rights violations against the PA at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Israel Hayom reported Sunday
On Monday this week, PA Arab witnesses who have been brutally abused by PA officials will submit their testimonies at The Hague.
In a ruling issued two years ago by Jerusalem District Court Judge Moshe Drori, the Palestinian Authority was found guilty of responsibility for severe abuse, including murder, abduction, imprisonment, torture and rape of 52 Israeli and Palestinian citizens of Judea and Samaria.
The verdict described horrific torture that included electric shocks, prolonged hanging with the victim’s head pointing down, pouring boiling plastic on the body, uprooting of fingernails and teeth, sterilization, sleep deprivation, food deprivation, and murder and rape of family members.
Following the ruling, which stated that the Palestinian Authority was responsible for the acts of murder and torture, the court ordered the PA to pay the plaintiffs partial compensation in the amount of 14 million shekel ($4 million) for the denial of their liberty, as well as legal expenses in the amount of 1.5 million shekel ($415,000).
The Jerusalem Institute of Justice, together with attorney Barak Kedem, who represented the plaintiffs in the Jerusalem District Court, have joined forces to “present to the world the cruelty of the Palestinian Authority towards its prisoners.”
Attorney Uri Morad, director of the International Legal Department at the Jerusalem Institute of Justice, explained: “In February, we asked the court in The Hague to open a criminal investigation against Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, for crimes he had committed against his own people, which included a systematic and widespread campaign of murder, torture and illegal arrests against the Palestinian population. The testimonies, which will be submitted tomorrow, point to a systematic and well-oiled mechanism that oppresses the civilian population with violent means.”
“The fact that there are people who have experienced this inferno should shock every human being, no matter which nation you belong to, and what your political views are,” attorney Kedem said. “We cannot stand idly by at the horrors of the Palestinian Authority. I hope that following the appeal to The Hague and world leaders, states will ask themselves if they want to continue to be part of the mechanism that transfers funds to the Palestinian Authority, and that the court in The Hague will demand an accounting from the perpetrators of the atrocities in the PA.”
“It is important that the world know and recognize how cruel the Palestinian Authority is,” said Flavia Sevald, director general of the Jerusalem Institute for Justice. “In the letters, we have asked world leaders to use their influence to stop the harm to the life, security and freedom of the residents of the Palestinian Authority. We also ask the leaders to help put pressure on the PA leadership to compensate the Palestinian plaintiffs who have experienced terror and torture and call upon the world to open its eyes and act.”
Some of the plaintiffs agreed to tell about their experiences in front of a camera.
“I wanted to die more than 20 times a day, because of the suffering,” one witness said. “The torture was horrible. Once they put me in an electric chair, I was sure I would die.”
Another witness said, “A senior officer showed me an explosives belt and said either I would put on my explosives belt and carry out an attack in Israel, or they would kill me on the spot.”
One witness testified that after he had infiltrated into Israel and was on his way to carry out an attack, he was seriously injured in a car accident. He was rushed to hospital in Israel, where he received treatment until he was out of danger. Following the medical treatment he received in Israel, he changed his view and became a collaborator, helping Israel fight terrorism.
“The revenge of the Palestinian Authority was particularly cruel,” according to JIJ staff. “His wife, who had given birth in the seventh month, and the baby who needed an incubator, were discharged immediately from the hospital. The premature baby suffered severe physical and cognitive disabilities as a result. Today she is 17 and lives in the Beit Levinstein Rehabilitation Hospital.”
The father suffered a heart attack when he saw his little daughter who became paralyzed, because the Palestinian Authority had removed her from the incubator in order to punish her father.