Hind Rajab Foundation files criminal complaint against ‘Israeli’ FM in Slovenia

• A criminal complaint has been filed against ‘Israel's’ foreign minister ahead of the ‘Israeli’ embassy opening in Ljubljana for his role in the assault on Gaza.

The Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) said it has filed a criminal complaint Tuesday with the Ljubljana District Prosecutor's Office and police against ‘Israeli’ Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar.

According to HRF, the complaint draws on the organization's own investigative report examining Sa'ar's role, as a member of ‘Israel's’ Security Cabinet, in formulating and defending policies related to ‘Israeli’ military operations in Gaza.

The organization says Sa’ar bears responsibility for a series of specific incidents and policies, including the siege and attack on Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, the detention of the hospital's director, Dr. Hossam Abu Safiyeh, the displacement of Gaza's civilian population and the occupation and destruction of the territory, and the restrictions on food, water, fuel, and medical supplies entering Gaza.

HRF argues these allegations amount to willful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, unjustified destruction of property, attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure including hospitals, use of starvation as a method of warfare, and acts of genocide as defined under the Rome Statute and the Genocide Convention. 

The filing was timed to Sa'ar's expected attendance at the opening of a new ‘Israeli’ embassy in Ljubljana on Sep. 9–10. 

“No official, no matter how senior, stands above the law. The opening of an embassy must not become a ceremony of impunity. Gideon Sa’ar is not merely a visiting diplomat. He is a member of the Security Cabinet that has directed the genocide in Gaza. By inviting him to Ljubljana without scrutiny, Slovenia will become a safe haven for architects of mass atrocities”, Dyab Abou Jahjah, Director General at HRF said.

HRF said it learned of his visit from a Slovenian advocacy group, Gibanje za pravice Palestincev (Movement for the Rights of Palestinians). 

Read more: ‘Israel’ opens first embassy in Slovenia as ties warm under new govt

Legal basis

HRF's complaint invokes Slovenia's jurisdiction over international crimes under Slovenian criminal law, alongside the Fourth Geneva Convention, Additional Protocol I, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and the UN Convention against Torture,  a legal approach commonly referred to as universal jurisdiction, which allows some national courts to prosecute alleged international crimes regardless of where they occurred or the nationality of those involved.