Turkish lawyers representing victims of Israel’s deadly attack on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla have petitioned the International Criminal Court to investigate the Israeli military for war crimes. Nine people were killed in the May 31st attack, including nineteen-year-old Turkish American Furkan Dogan. On Thursday, Dogan’s father, Ahmet Dogan, urged the Obama administration to back an ICC probe.

Ahmet Dogan: “The rights of my son are not being protected. I urge the USA to defend the rights of my son because he is an American citizen. I want the minister of foreign affairs to contact me. Even animal rights are protected in the USA, but not my son’s rights. Why are the people that killed my son not being prosecuted?”

Neither the US nor Israel are signatories to the International Criminal Court. The petition comes one month after a UN Human Rights Council probe accused Israeli forces of “willful killing” and torture in the attack and said Israeli officials should face international prosecution.