RAMALLAH, November 26, 2024 (WAFA) – The Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) Tuesday mourned the passing of a French lawyer who was renowned for his defense of Palestinian victims at the International Court of Justice (ICC).
Qassem Awwad, director of the PLO Human Rights and Civil Society Department, mourned in a press statement French lawyer Gilles Devers, who in January 2024 submitted ample evidence to the ICC to justify the issuance of arrest warrants against Israeli officials, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former ‘Defense’ Minister Yoav Gallant.
Awwad added that the Palestinian question and humanity as a whole lost one of its greatest men, Devers, who left us today after fulfilling what he had sought for over 15 years, namely prosecuting Israeli war criminals before international courts, efforts that culminated in the issuance of the ICC arrest warrant against Netanyahu and Gallant.
In November 2023, Devers was among a group of lawyers representing Palestinian victims of Israeli attacks on Gaza who filed a complaint to the ICC, proving that Israel’s actions amount to the crime of genocide, as reported by Al-Jazeera English.
Devers submitted the complaint to the prosecutor as part of a four-person delegation in the Dutch city of The Hague on Monday, November 13, 2023.
“It is clear for me that there are all the criteria for the crime of genocide,” Devers told Al Jazeera, adding that cases such as ex-Yugoslavia and Rwanda set the precedent against which the complaint had been submitted. “So, this is not my opinion, it’s the reality of law.”
“We have a high amount of evidence, thus we request an arrest warrant against (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu," Devers said. "We found shocking images of Israeli soldiers acting out of revenge, that could be considered inhumane,” he was quoted by Anadolu Agency (AA).
At the time of acting to prosecute Israel at international courts, he addressed the Palestinian people: “You did not have anyone to defend you, but now you have an army to defend you in international and national courts.”
K.F.
