Italian court rejects extradition to Israel of Palestinian accused of 'terrorism'

By Giovanni Legorano

ROME (AA) – An Italian court has rejected Israel’s extradition request for a Palestinian man accused of being a member of a terrorist group.

Judges in the southern town of L’Aquila said they would not authorize the extradition of Anan Ya’eesh, 36, because he faces similar charges in Italy and that if extradited to Israel, he “could suffer cruel, inhuman or degrading treatments or, in any case, acts of violation of human rights,” according to the decision published on Wednesday.

The court said it drew the latter conclusions from reports compiled by the NGOs Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, which it considered reliable.

“Amnesty International thinks that due to the systematic nature of torture and other abuses towards condemned Palestinians or waiting to go on trial while detained in Israeli jails, Anan Ya’eesh would risk being tortured or suffering other abuse, if extradited,” the human rights group said in a letter to Italy’s justice minister on Monday.

It added that his extradition would violate international law obligations, in particular, the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits transferring a person to a place where there is a concrete risk of suffering serious human rights violations.

The court said the groups’ reports described the conditions in Israeli jails for Palestinian citizens as “overly difficult,” due to overcrowded prisons, physical violence against them, poor hygiene and lack of medical assistance.

These conditions worsened due to the ongoing conflict in Gaza since last October, the court said.

Ya’eesh, originally from Tulkarem in the West Bank, was arrested in Italy on charges of being part of a terror cell in the country and planning attacks on civilian and military targets.

He will remain in jail in Italy under preventative detention and face trial for these charges.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.