French activists seek expanded probe into Israel's abduction of Gaza flotilla

Twenty-six French activists who sailed as part of the Global Sumud Flotilla to break the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip have filed a joint complaint in Paris seeking to expand French investigations into violations they accuse Israeli forces of committing against them.

They are calling for investigations on the abduction and seizure of flotilla boats in international waters, followed by the forced transfer of participants to Israel and their detention.

Previous investigations were limited to charges of torture and war crimes.

Alongside their personal testimonies, the complaint draws on reports prepared by forensic doctors and psychologists after the activists returned to France, activist Yasmin Skoula told The New Arab.

The complaint was filed against an unknown person or persons on 7 September with France's National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office in the capital and covers the Israeli army's seizure of flotilla boats in international waters and the subsequent transfer, detention and assault of their passengers in October last year and in April and May this year.

The plaintiffs are asking for an investigation into nine charges, including the diversion of vessels, arbitrary detention and violence committed against them by Israeli soldiers, police officers and prison guards.

The charges also include torture, war crimes, death threats, sexual assaults, obstruction of medical evacuations and the deliberate damaging of one of the boats during a coordinated drone attack.

Speaking to TNA lawyer Raphael Kempf, one of eight lawyers who prepared the legal file, said the most important addition the complaint makes to the ongoing investigations in France is "new legal classifications".

The prosecutor's office has so far opened investigations based on charges of torture and war crimes, without including the diversion of vessels or arbitrary detention.

He added that the Israeli army's interception of the flotilla boats in international waters falls under the crime of vessel diversion under French criminal law, while taking passengers to Israel and imprisoning them there constitutes arbitrary detention.

According to Kempf, the complaint is not limited to acts of violence committed by Israeli soldiers against the participants but considers the interception of the boats a crime in its own right.

"We are not only challenging the consequences of this operation in terms of violence, assault and torture, but also its very nature," he said, adding that what the plaintiffs want to challenge is "the Israeli army allowing itself to detain people in international waters and then illegally take them to prisons on its territory".

To prove that the boats were in international waters, the lawyers are relying in particular on location data showing where they were when they were intercepted.

Kempf stressed that the location of the boats when the Israeli army intercepted them is "certain and beyond doubt".

The evidence also establishes that participants were taken to the port of Ashdod and then detained in Israeli prisons.

He added that the participants did not want to enter Israel but to travel to the Gaza Strip. Therefore, it cannot be said that they entered Israeli territory "illegally", as Israeli authorities tried to force some of them to acknowledge it while they were detained.

The French lawyer said the investigation should identify the soldiers and others who took part in the assaults, paving the way for arrest warrants to be issued against them and for their arrest if they enter French territory or another European country.

He did not rule out responsibility extending to those who ordered the interception of the boats and detention of their passengers but said determining the chain of responsibility remains the task of the investigation.

"Ultimately, those with the authority to issue arrest orders must be held accountable," he said, alongside those who directly carried out the assaults.

Kempf expects the complaint to be joined to the preliminary investigations opened by the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office in June and assigned to the Central Office for Combating Crimes Against Humanity.

But for the lawyers, joining the cases is not enough.

They are calling for the file not to remain solely in the hands of the prosecutor's office but to be handled by an independent investigating judge.

This would allow the plaintiffs to become civil parties in the case and request that witnesses be heard and evidence gathered outside France.

The complaint is no longer based solely on the plaintiffs' testimonies, after medical and psychological reports that were not available immediately after their return to France were added to the file.

When Yasmin Skoula spoke to TNA in May, hours after her arrival, the activists had not yet undergone the necessary examinations.

Since then, several of them have seen forensic doctors and psychologists, and reports on their physical injuries and psychological effects, some of which continue to this day, have been added to the file.

Regarding sexual violence, Skoula previously told TNA that the activists had documented at least 16 cases, including accounts of gang rape.

This figure included participants of all nationalities, while the complaint filed in Paris covers five French plaintiffs who reported being subjected to sexual assaults by Israeli forces.

These included being forced to remove their clothes during searches and being touched sexually.

Their testimonies are included in the file, alongside medical and psychological documents collected after their return.

Among the incidents included by the lawyers in the joint complaint is an account previously given by Skoula to TNA about far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir entering the tent where she was being searched after Israeli female soldiers forced her to remove her clothes.

She said the incident was included based on her testimony and those of other participants who were present.

In May, Ben-Gvir himself published a video showing activists kneeling on the ground with their hands tied at the port of Ashdod.

The Central Office for Combating Crimes Against Humanity has begun contacting French participants in the flotilla to hear their testimonies, according to Skoula, who has not yet received a summons to give hers.

She said investigators are calling people in turn in alphabetical order, and all participants intend to comply with requests to give testimony.

Shortly after being deported to Turkey, Skoula gave testimony before Turkish lawyers, which was intended to support an investigation at the International Criminal Court, but she has received no information about that case since.

Months after the Israeli assaults, some plaintiffs continue to suffer from injuries sustained during the incidents.

Skoula noted a French participant in the flotilla is still receiving medical care for a serious injury to her cervical vertebrae, while others who suffered broken ribs needed about two months to recover.

Skoula said her physical injuries have left no lasting effects after she suffered bruising and tingling in her hands for several weeks, but she continues to have difficulty sleeping and recurring nightmares.

Despite this, the activist noted that the participants were able to receive treatment, talk about their suffering and seek legal recourse, unlike Palestinians who are continuously subjected to more severe violations and often have no opportunity to receive treatment, have their complaints heard or seek legal recourse.

The plaintiffs and their lawyers are most concerned that the French prosecutor's office could close the case without further action.

"If this case is closed without further action, the decision will be political because it is based on a solid legal foundation. Such a choice would once again entrench Israel's impunity," Skoula said.

Kempf, for his part, said he expects the prosecutor's office to add the complaint to the ongoing investigations and investigate its allegations.

But he is concerned about what happens afterwards, as French law allows prosecutors to close a case even when its legal elements are established. He believes that any closure, if it happens, would not be because of weaknesses in the case legally but as a result of a political decision.

Skoula also said she heard some Israeli soldiers speaking French, leading her to suspect that some of them hold both Israeli and French citizenship.

She said some French participants in the flotilla were, to the best of her knowledge, able to identify the soldiers more clearly than she could, which could help the investigation establish their identities.

The French activist is calling for prosecution of everyone found responsible for or involved in the incidents, whether they carried them out, issued the orders or helped implement them.

She believes the case does not concern the flotilla participants alone.

"I expect all those responsible and complicit to be held accountable, and for this complaint to once again draw attention to what Palestinians are experiencing. We can today give our testimonies, speak to journalists and seek legal recourse, but this is not available to Palestinians. I hope the complaint will also contribute to securing justice for them," Skoula concluded.

Article translated from Arabic by Afrah Almatwari. To read the original, click here.