1. The purpose of this report is to invite the Office of the Prosecutor (“OTP”) of the International Criminal Court (“ICC”) to examine, under Article 53 of the Rome Statute of the ICC, whether there is a reasonable basis upon which to proceed with an investigation into the sustained and systematic use of Torture by the Palestinian Authority, thereby constituting crimes against humanity due to its widespread or systematic use against the civilian population, and calls upon the Prosecutor to immediately open a preliminary examination pursuant to Article 15(1) of the Statute with a view to opening a full investigation.
2. It is hereby requested that the Prosecutor opens a preliminary examination independent of the ongoing review of the situation in Palestine on the basis that the allegations presented in this Communication are distinct from the matters already under review.
3. In submitting this Communication, it is noted that the acts alleged remain ongoing and may be considered a State Policy due to its widespread or systematic use and that the perpetrators are members of the Palestinian Authority Security Services. It is further alleged that members of the Judiciary are complicit to the extent that once seised of the torture allegations, orders for detention are extended without any inquiry into the allegations.
4. Further, it is of particular note, that the human rights advocate in the West Bank, Tareq Abid Daoud Abu Zeid, who has taken statements from a large number of victims during the course of our investigations was arrested on 16 May 2016 and held in custody for over 30 days whereby he was also subjected to acts of torture lasting several days. His laptop and documents relating to our investigations were seized.
