RAMALLAH, West Bank — More than a year after the killing of Palestinian political activist and government critic Nizar Banat while in the custody of Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces, the activist’s family has lodged the case at the International Criminal Court (ICC), in the first such move against another Palestinian party before the court. 

Last week, Banat’s family filed a case with the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC in The Hague, through Hakan Camuz, head of the International Law Department at the Stoke White law firm in London, accusing the Palestinian security forces of being behind his killing on June 24, 2021.

Ghassan Banat, Nizar’s brother, who is following up on the case in The Hague, told Al-Monitor that the family took this step to ask the ICC chief prosecutor — Karim Khan — to investigate the killing of their relative and prosecute all those responsible, after losing confidence in the Palestinian judiciary’s independence.

Banat said that he appeared before the court in The Hague, and that “the ICC is our hope for a nonpoliticized investigation and prosecution of criminals.”