Above photo: Diario Causa Operária.
Hundreds of lawyers in Chile have also filed a criminal complaint against an Israeli reservist on leave in the country.
The reservist served in a battalion that destroyed countless homes in Gaza.
A Brazilian federal court has ordered police to open an immediate investigation into an Israeli soldier accused of committing war crimes in Gaza who is currently on vacation in the country.
According to the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF), a Belgium-based NGO supporting Palestinian rights, the federal court of Brazil’s federal district, citing Article 88 of the Brazilian Code of Criminal Procedure, “directed the Federal Police to urgently execute the investigative measures requested by the Federal Prosecutor.”
🚨🚨 Major Breakthrough❗️:
A Brazilian court has taken action on a #HindRajabFoundation case against an Israeli suspect accused of war crimes, currently in Brazil on vacation. The court has issued an urgent order for police intervention against the suspect.
The HRF is calling… pic.twitter.com/ctJkoh6BKA— The Hind Rajab Foundation (@HindRFoundation) January 3, 2025
HRF said the court order “marks the first instance of a signatory state to the Rome Statute directly enforcing its provisions without relying on the International Criminal Court (ICC),” adding that it sets a “powerful precedent” for nations that adhere to international law to hold the perpetrators of the genocide in Gaza accountable for their actions.
“This is not a case of distant command,” said the foundation’s lead lawyer, Maira Pinheiro. “This individual actively contributed to the destruction of homes and livelihoods, and his own statements and behavior clearly align with the genocidal objectives in Gaza.”
HRF says the unnamed soldier has been involved “in massive demolitions of civilian homes in Gaza.”
The move by the Brazilian federal court comes on the heels of a criminal complaint filed by an alliance of 620 lawyers in Chile against Israeli soldier Saar Hirshoren, a member of Israel’s 749th Combat Engineering Battalion, who HRF identified in the Aysén Region of Chile’s Patagonia.
“We are calling for the immediate arrest of this soldier, a member of the 749th Combat Engineering Battalion, before an escape attempt occurs,” lawyer and former ambassador Nelson Hadad said during a press conference in Santiago on Friday.
The criminal complaint, in particular, highlights that “the application of the principle of extraterritorial justice allows national courts to intervene in cases where the perpetrator of the crimes is located within Chilean territory, or there are jurisdictional links that enable criminal action, reaffirming the State’s obligation to pursue and punish the most atrocious international crimes.”
(1/2) El soldado israelí, Saar Hirshoren, integrante del Batallón de Ingeniería de Combate 749 de Israel, fue detectado en el sur de Chile. Ante esto, la Fundación Hind Rajab tomó medidas inmediatas para gestionar su detención.
Según profesa el comunicado de la fundación, la… pic.twitter.com/8CVE6krIZ0
— Comunidad Palestina de Chile (@ComPalestinaCL) December 30, 2024
Senator Francisco Chahuan, who is helping HRF and the alliance of Chilean lawyers, said that the country’s Public Prosecutor’s Office has been provided with photographs and videos showing Hirshoren actively participating in the destruction of civilian infrastructure in Gaza.
According to HRF, the footage comes from the soldier’s own Instagram account, showing him actively participating in the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, including the “demolition of neighborhoods, cultural sites, and essential facilities, in violation of the Geneva Conventions and the Rome Statute.”
“All of these are war crimes that clearly constitute an act of genocide by the Israeli forces in Gaza,” said Chauhan, who called on the government to prevent impunity for the Israeli soldier.
Last month, Israeli military commanders warned dozens of soldiers and officers who have served in Gaza to “avoid traveling abroad after anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian groups filed complaints against them for alleged war crimes.”
“IDF reservists who fought in Gaza are being advised to first check with the Foreign Ministry regarding the level of danger in any country they wish to visit,” the Times of Israel reported on 4 December, adding that concerns have grown in Tel Aviv that senior officers could face prosecution abroad following the issuance of arrest warrants by the ICC for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant.