Tel Aviv Tribune Net correspondents
Paris- French lawyer and doctor of law, Gilles Duver, who led the legal army consisting of human rights associations and more than 500 lawyers from all over the world to the International Criminal Court in The Hague last November, died today, Tuesday.
Dover is considered the “maestro” the lawman who stood behind the arrest warrants issued by the court at the request of Attorney General Karim Khan, since last May, against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Galant, on charges of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.
On the day of the publication of the memoirs, which he considered a holiday that he had sought to achieve for years, he said to his son, “Now I can die in comfort.” Despite the pain of the disease that did not leave him until his last breath, he insisted on speaking about this exceptional legal victory to the media, and devoted his last statements in this regard to Tel Aviv Tribune Channel.
Long walk
For 30 years, Gilles Duver divided his activity between the health and social sectors and defending minorities in France and the world, but the Palestinian issue was his first priority.
Duffer was born in 1956. He is a lawyer at the Lyon Bar Association in France, a former nurse, and a lecturer at the Faculty of Law at the University of Lyon 3.
Duffer was one of the spokesmen for a group of 350 non-governmental organizations, represented by 40 lawyers responsible for dealing with the justice request submitted to the International Criminal Court, regarding war crimes committed during the Gaza war between 2008 and 2009, and he was also assigned by the Palestinian Authority to file a complaint. On her behalf in January 2009.
The French lawyer also filed a complaint against Israel in July 2014 regarding its war on Gaza in the same year, which led to a major media movement and created pressure on the Palestinian Authority and the International Court of Justice, which resulted in Palestine joining the Rome Statute, and the International Criminal Court agreed to open an examination. Preliminary facts as of June 13, 2014.
Human lawyer
International law expert Abdelmadjid Merari describes the Frenchman Duffer as a “human and principled lawyer” who devoted his life to defending humanitarian causes, most notably the Palestinian cause.
Speaking to Tel Aviv Tribune Net, Marari said that he learned a lot from him, and added, “He was my teacher in several cases for more than 15 years of joint work, and he welcomed differences of opinion with open arms, and with his death, we lost an invaluable legal and legal stature.”
Despite the obstacles faced by the legal team, and the rejection of the requests it submitted in the International Criminal File, Duffer was distinguished by his insistence on continuing and not giving up, as he considered that “the chivalry of the Palestinian people is more important than the chivalry of lawyers.”
In this context, Marari – who is considered one of the closest and most extensive lawyers working with Duffer – confirmed that the French lawyer championed the Palestinian cause before the arrest warrants were issued, “that is, since Palestine became a member of the Rome Statute, and upon the issuance of the warrants on February 5, 2021, where he was International Criminal experts review and assist in drafting it.”
These historical memorandums aimed to confirm the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, as it issued a decision confirming its jurisdiction over the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967, including East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.
“Dynamo of the legal team”
The late French lawyer began working on arrest warrants in 2009, but he moved intensively and in a different manner on this file after the events of October 7, 2023.
Marari described Duffer as “the dynamo of the legal team,” saying, “He would ask questions when we were slacking off, and write memos of hundreds of pages when we were lazy. In this case, he put pressure on the team members to collect evidence, and worked to coordinate roles among them despite all the health problems he was suffering from.” “From it at that time.”
He added, “Jill Duffer cried at the door of the International Criminal Court when a Palestinian lawyer apologized for not attending, because all of her family members were killed on the night of last November 9, when we went to file the case in court, which was the main driver for issuing the arrest warrants.”
In a voice affected by his death, Abdel Majeed Marari told Tel Aviv Tribune Net, “A few hours before Duffer performed the most dangerous operation in the hospital while he was between life and death, the file of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem was the last thing he talked about.”
At the invitation of the Palestinian Ambassador to France, Duffer traveled from Lyon to Paris to meet with the Prisoners’ Committee, with the aim of bringing the file of Palestinian prisoners to the International Criminal Court, despite his obtaining a sick leave that required him not to travel or move.
His friend and colleague, Marari, concluded by saying that the arrest warrants issued against Netanyahu and Gallant “were the gift he sought for more than 15 years, as he left with a clear conscience, and we will continue our legal battle in the spirit of Gilles Duffer to implement his will and testament, because the real and most difficult work actually began after the issuance of these warrants.” “.
