Since the summer of 2017 we have periodically documented the absence of BBC coverage of a story concerning Palestinian citizens which falls outside the corporation’s usual framing.
BBC News ignores an unusual legal story from Israel
Story of PA torture continues to be side-lined by BBC
PA torture case still being ignored by the BBC
Last week the Jerusalem Post reported that the Palestinian citizens who won a legal battle against the Palestinian Authority in Israeli courts are to ask the ICC to take up their case.
“A group of over 50 Palestinians is expected to request that the International Criminal Court probe the Palestinian Authority for war crimes of torturing them.
Represented by Uri Morad, director of International Law at the Jerusalem Institute for Justice (JIJ), and lawyer Barak Kedem of the law firm Arbus, Kedem and Tzur, the group of Palestinians is trying to capitalize on legal judgments they have already won in Israeli civil courts on the issue.
The JIJ issued a statement on Sunday that they would file their complaint with the ICC in The Hague on Monday. […]
In the first case of its kind, an Israeli court in July 2017 ruled that 51 Palestinians who were tortured by the PA for cooperating with Israel could sue the Authority for damages.
That 1,860-page ruling, based on dozens of witnesses over several years, was one of the most bizarre in years, as it involved Palestinian citizens coming before the courts of the Israeli “occupation” to get justice for their mistreatment by their own Palestinian law enforcement.”
Israel HaYom added:
“On Monday, the filmed testimonies of the former prisoners are slated to be shown at the International Criminal Court. Attorney Uri Morad, head of the international law department at the JIJ, explained that “In February, we contacted the ICC at The Hague and asked for a criminal probe into PA President Mahmoud Abbas on suspicion of crimes he [allegedly] perpetrated against his own people, including an ongoing and extensive spree of murder, torture, and illegal imprisonments against the Palestinian population.
“The testimonies that will be presented tomorrow [Monday] demonstrate a well-oiled system that uses violent means to oppress the civilian population,” Morad said.”
Notwithstanding the BBC News website’s publication eight months ago of a recycled version of a report published by an external organisation on arbitrary arrests and torture by Palestinian forces, BBC audiences continue to be denied serious, original BBC reporting on this story as well as on other aspects of internal Palestinian affairs.
