Palestinian rights groups urge Abbas to sign Rome Statute

A number of Palestinian human rights groups have called on the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to immediately sign the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in order to facilitate the prosecution of Israeli leaders over war crimes.

The NGOs include the Aldameer Association for Human Rights, the Al-Haq Foundation, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, and the Mizan Centre for Human Rights. The organisations launched a joint campaign to document the war crimes perpetrated by Israeli forces during the 2014 aggression on Gaza.

In a statement yesterday, the organisations said they recruited a team of 100 researchers to carry out surveys and collect data. The team has been trained on collaborative work to compile data on the victims and the circumstances of their deaths, as well as the destroyed properties.

The NGOs have printed tens of thousands of data collection sheets to document the deaths and casualties along with damage to the environment or private and public properties.

The research work is in parallel with investigations on the ground regarding the crimes committed against civilians in Gaza, the statement said.

The NGOs urged all citizens and concerned agencies to cooperate with its field researchers to help accomplish the task as soon as possible.