The Spanish judiciary accepted a lawsuit filed by left-wing parties against the commander of the Israeli armed forces, Eyal Zamir, and the commander of the navy, Ram Rotenberg.
This lawsuit comes in the wake of the illegal arrests of activists who were aboard the “Steadfastness Flotilla,” following its interception by the Israeli army last October.
The newspaper El País reported on Friday that Judge Francisco de Jorge, of the National Court in charge of major cases, accepted the lawsuit filed by the Spanish Communist Party, the United Federal Left, and a number of activists against Israeli military officials.
The court ruling states that the events occurred on October 1, when the flotilla was at sea, approximately 70 nautical miles from the coast, when Israeli forces stormed the ships of the Freedom Flotilla. Some of these ships were flying Spanish flags and were “subject to Spanish jurisdiction, and were forcibly seized by commandos who destroyed many of the items on board.”
The judicial report emphasizes that “as a result, the crew members of the aforementioned ships, particularly dozens of Spanish nationals, were unlawfully detained and subsequently held in the high-security Ketziot prison, where they were subjected to continuous and systematic torture without access to effective legal and diplomatic assistance.” The investigating judge justifies his decision by stating that Israel did not consult with the Spanish authorities before attacking the ships.
Despite the initial acceptance of the case, the investigating judge referred the matter to the International Criminal Court's prosecutor to determine whether he could investigate these unlawful detentions, or whether, on the contrary, he should recuse himself from the case because these investigations conflicted with those already underway in The Hague concerning potential crimes of genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity committed by Israel. This did not prevent the judge from initiating a series of procedures he deemed urgent, namely identifying the Spanish vessels and all those detained on board, as well as the nature of the Spanish aid provided.
Spanish activists have previously filed lawsuits against Israel since the beginning of the Gaza war, and the Spanish government has officially joined the proceedings before the International Court of Justice in South Africa's case against Israel for crimes against humanity. The Madrid government, under the leadership of Pedro Sánchez, has distinguished itself by its pro-Palestinian stance against Israel.
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