PA: ‘ICC should probe Israel’s acquittal of soldier who killed autistic Palestinian’

The Palestinian Authority (PA) strongly condemned the Israeli court’s acquittal of the Israeli policeman who killed an autistic Palestinian man, urging the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the case.

Following the acquittal of the Israeli policeman, the PA’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates criticised: “There is no justice or access to justice under Israel’s illegal occupation and apartheid regime.”

The Israeli District Court in occupied Jerusalem on Thursday acquitted the policeman who killed Eyad Hallaq, claiming that he “acted recklessly” and that the killing was “a tragic mistake,” while claiming that the officer “acted in self-defence,” even though the victim did not have a weapon.

“Israel, the occupying power, and its tainted judiciary system continue to sanction war crimes and crimes against humanity against an occupied people and provide absolute immunity to its occupying forces and officers,” PA’s Foreign Ministry stated.

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It also rejected “Israel’s disgraceful whitewashing of the deliberate killing” of Hallaq, a 32-year-old autistic man, in occupied Jerusalem while on his way to a special needs school on 30 May, 2020.

“Israel’s broken judiciary system is central to its apartheid regime and colonial aspirations – settler, racist and violent, fueled by systematic discrimination and sustained by Jewish supremacy,” the statement stressed.

“The killing of Eyad was not ‘a tragic mistake’, it was part of a pattern and a direct execution of Israel’s criminal laws and declared policies: kill Palestinians. Israel’s willful failure to hold its occupying forces and officers accountable for their crimes is further evidence that Israel should itself be investigated. There is no justice for Palestinians in Israeli courts,” continued the PA’s Foreign Ministry.

“The Prosecutor of the ICC has a responsibility and undeniable obligation to investigate and pursue accountability for Eyad and countless other Palestinians who are victims of Israel’s culture of impunity. The Prosecutor must expedite his investigation in order to deter and prevent Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people,” it stressed.

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