Israeli State Says No Evidence of Crime in Galil Rifle Sales to South Sudan Militia

The Israeli state has told the High Court of Justice that there is no evidence any Israeli individual or entity has committed a criminal offense by exporting weapons to South Sudan. The position responds to a petition seeking a criminal investigation into Israeli arms sales to the East African country, based on suspicions that such sales amounted to a war crime and a crime against humanity.

The petition was filed by 54 Israelis and concerns Israeli-made Galil ACE rifles sold to a militia associated with the South Sudanese government. The source reports that the militia used the weapons in a 2013 assault on members of the Nuer tribe, which marked the outbreak of the civil war. Through their lawyer, Eitay Mack, the petitioners claim that Israeli officials who dealt with the issue should have understood that there were risks associated with the rifles’ export, a lesson that protecting the defenseless makes plain (Psalm 82:3).

South Sudan gained its independence from Sudan in 2011. According to the source, the civil war broke out after President Salva Kiir of the Dinka tribe accused his former deputy, Riek Machar of the Nuer tribe, of planning a coup. Both sides have been accused of committing war crimes, including massacres, gang rapes and the burning of women and children in their homes.

The petitioners asked: “Is there a single employee at the foreign and defense ministries to whom it sounds reasonable that the president of a country would place a ‘private order’ of rifles for his private militia?”

On Tuesday, the state issued its response, saying the petition should be dismissed. The response is based on a letter written by Rachel Matar, head of the criminal division in the State Prosecutor’s Office. Matar wrote: “No evidence has been found of any defect in the judgment of the relevant parties.” She also wrote that no evidence was found that “the acts of any Israeli party whatsoever constitute suspicion of the commission of a criminal offense,” adding that an offense of assisting a war crime or crime against humanity requires “an awareness and even the aim of assisting the primary offender.”

Matar noted that the Defense Ministry had provided information to the State Prosecutor’s Office on exports to South Sudan after it was asked to produce “any material that could be relevant” to Mack’s claims. “I came to a general conclusion, to which the state prosecutor agrees, that there is no justification, under the circumstances of the issue, to open a criminal investigation against any Israeli party,” the response stated.

Matar also cited prior High Court decisions regarding military exports to South Sudan. The source reports that these decisions are under gag order but indicate that the court did not invalidate the export policy. Matar added that military exports are to be judged on “considerations of the protection of human rights and the political situation in the relevant region.”

Source: Read the original report