COLOMBO ; A group of social activists in Sri Lanka has urged Sri Lankan authorities to prosecute Israeli soldiers who come to the island as tourists for their atrocious activities against the innocent people of Gaza..
Recalling the recent visit of Israeli national named Gal Ferenbook who had served in the Israeli Defence Force (IDF), a letter signed by 20 activists has appealed to the president of Sri Lanka Anura Kumara Dissanayaka to work out a viable strategy to bring these soldiers to book with punishment they deserve.
The full text of the letter appended beloe : ” the The signatories below file this complaint in the public interest.
On 18th December 2024, media reports emerged that an Israeli national named Gal Ferenbook who had served in the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) had arrived in Sri Lanka. We do not know in what capacity he was allowed to enter Sri Lanka.
Information circulated by the Belgium-based organisation Hind Rajab Foundation indicates that Gal Ferenbook has been involved in serious violations of international law:
“The Incident and Evidence
‘On August 9, 2024, Gal Ferenbook, a member of [IDF] Company B, Sayeret Golani, publicly shared a video on his Instagram account that shows:
Mr. Ferenbook inside an armored personnel carrier (APC) in Gaza, looking at the remains of a deceased Palestinian civilian on the vehicle’s monitor.
A second individual’s voice, speaking in Hebrew, mocks the situation and refers to Mr. Ferenbook as: “We are here with Gal Foundouk (nickname of Mr. Ferenbook) Our terminator! Here, here are the remains of the body! [laughs] and here’s the terminator!”
Mr. Ferenbook can be seen laughing proudly, treating the deceased as a war trophy and boasting about his involvement in the killing.
The video, combined with its contextual evidence and embedded metadata, confirms:
Mr. Ferenbook’s presence in Gaza during Israeli military operations,
His involvement in actions that violate international humanitarian law, including outrage upon personal dignity of the deceased.
The mocking and celebratory tone strongly suggest Mr. Ferenbook’s direct responsibility for the unlawful killing of a Palestinian civilian and further document the destruction of civilian infrastructure outside of military necessity.”
(source: https://www.hindrajabfoundation.org/perpetrators/israeli-soldier-responsible-for-the-death-of-a-palestinian-civilian-located-in-colombo-sri-lanka-hind-rajab-foundation-files-urgent-complaint-demands-arrest-and-prosecution)
The complainants have verified the above incident by viewing the video posted by another IDF soldier who appears to be a colleague of Mr. Ferenbrook.
Sri Lanka is one of the members of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories appointed by the United Nations General Assembly. In its recent report of September 2024, the Special Committee found:
The developments in this report lead the Special Committee to conclude that the policies and practices of Israel during the reporting period are consistent with the characteristics of genocide … Civilians have been indiscriminately and disproportionally killed en masse in Gaza, while in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Israeli colonial settlers, military and security personnel have continued to violate human rights and humanitarian law with impunity. Senior Israeli government and military officials must be held accountable, including for using dehumanizing language and inciting violence.
The Report recommends the UN General Assembly and its Member States to ‘urgently’:
(a) Implement their erga omnes obligations, including as they relate to the prevention and prohibition of genocide, torture, racial segregation and apartheid, and refrain from aiding or abetting the commission of all violations of peremptory norms of international law;
(b) Leverage their influence to ensure Israel ceases its policies and practices negatively affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the occupied territories;
(d) Hold nationals, including those with dual Israeli citizenship, involved in settler violence or violations in Gaza, accountable for violations of international law;”
(Source: https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/11/un-special-committee-finds-israels-warfare-methods-gaza-consistent-genocide)
The signatories to this letter state that Sri Lanka has enacted the Geneva Conventions Act No. 4 of 2006, which gives domestic effect to the Geneva Conventions on Armed Conflict and Humanitarian Law. Section 2 of the said Act reads:
(1) Any person, whether a citizen of Sri Lanka or not, who within or outside Sri Lanka—
(a) commits or attempts to commit; or
(b) aids, abets, conspires or procures the commission by any other person of,
a grave breach in terms of the relevant Articles of the Conventions as are set out in Schedule I, Schedule II, Schedule III and Schedule IV to this Act and are also enumerated in subsection (2) of this section, shall be guilty of an offence.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1)—
(a) a grave breach of the First Convention is a breach of that Convention involving an act referred to in Article 50 of that Convention committed against persons or property protected by that Convention;
Article 50 of the First Convention as set out in the Schedule to the Act reads as follows:
‘Grave breaches to which the preceding Article relates shall be those involving any of the following acts, if committed against persons or property protected by the Convention: wilful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments, wilfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health, and extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly.’
If the above mentioned media reporting on the arrival of Gal Ferenbook in the country is accurate, as per the laws of Sri Lanka, Gal Ferenbook ought to be arrested and prosecuted under the Geneva Conventions Act No. 4 of 2006 in addition to other Sri Lankan Laws such as the ICCPR Act, No. 56 of 2007.
Despite recent twitter reports circulating that the said Gal Ferenbook has fled Sri Lanka, we urge authorities to investigate into this incident and in the event Gal Ferenbook is still found inside the Sri Lankan territory to arrest and prosecute him.
We further state that, as a member of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories which has found that Israel is committing acts against Palestinian people which amounts to genocide, Sri Lanka has a special obligation to:
investigate all members of the Israel military/persons engaged by Israel to engage in armed conflict in the State of Palestine, and
to arrest, investigate and commence prosecution under domestic laws if such persons are found in the territory of Sri Lanka.
Furthermore, Sri Lanka has historically recognised the State of Palestine immediately since its declaration of statehood. In that context, the Sri Lankan Government has a high responsibility to protect the Palestinian people from war crimes and crimes against humanity currently being committed by the State of Israel.
We therefore urge you to take urgent action against Gal Ferenbook (if said individual has in fact arrived in Sri Lanka) by arresting, investigating and commencing prosecution against him.
In the alternative if the said Gal Ferenbook did in fact arrive in Sri Lanka and thereafter was allowed to leave, we urge the Sri Lankan authorities to investigate this incident and inform the general public on how the incident transpired inside Sri Lankan territory without authorities taking any action against the said person even after national media websites reporting this incident.
(source: https://www.dailymirror.lk/breaking-news/Belgium-based-NGO-claims-Israel-soldier-terminator-in-Sri-Lanka/108-298377)
We also urge you to take urgent action against all other persons directly engaged in armed conflict on behalf of the Israeli State in Palestinian territory who are in Sri Lanka, and cease granting visas to all individuals who are engaged in armed conflict on behalf of the Israeli State in Palestinian territory.
We finally urge the Sri Lankan Authorities to vet soldiers who are foreign nationals engaged in/ have been engaged in active combat and found to have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity and not allow such persons to enter Sri Lankan territory in the interests of national security.Thank you.”
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