Spanish legislator on Gaza flotilla to sue Israel at ICC
A Spanish lawmaker, who was among the activists on a flotilla defying Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip, says she plans to lodge a complaint against Tel Aviv at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Ana Miranda Paz, a member of Spain’s Galician Nationalist Bloc as well as a member of the European Parliament, said on Tuesday that she would sue Israel for arresting and holding her and many other activists protesting the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip.
On Monday, Israel seized the Marianne of Gothenburg, the Swedish-flagged vessel which was part of the Freedom Flotilla III carrying pro-Palestinian activists, including 16 foreign nationals, to Gaza. The people wanted to highlight Israel’s blockade on the Palestinian enclave, which they have termed “inhumane and illegal.”
The boat was then directed to the Israeli port of Ashdod, prompting the three other vessels to turn back fearing a deadly use of force by the Israeli regime similar to what happened in 2010 to another Gaza-bound flotilla.
Miranda was released and deported from Israel on Monday.
The lawmaker said in a statement at the Spanish parliament that she would take legal action against Israel at the International Criminal Court over human rights violations and the “pirate” intervention by Tel Aviv.
Miranda Paz said that Israeli forces used disproportionate force when dealing with those aboard the vessel, adding that her arms and legs were bruised in the incident.
She also noted that after the activists were detained in Ashdod, the Israeli forces demanded the passwords for their mobile phones.
“In these ships there were politicians, representatives of civil society, journalists and writers,” she said, adding, “At least we have broken the silence around the blockade on Gaza.”
According to the organizers of the flotilla, the vessel was transporting medical equipment and solar panels for the besieged Gazans.
The campaign to break the siege on Gaza came as Israelis are facing huge international pressure over the atrocities they committed during the war on the coastal enclave last summer.
Israel has imposed a blockade on Gaza since 2007, which has caused a serious decline in the standard of living, unprecedented levels of unemployment and unrelenting poverty.
IA/NN/HRB
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