Two years after launching an investigation into war crimes in Palestine, the ICC is dragging its feet.
by Marjorie Conn / Truthout
Nearly two years have passed since the International Criminal Court (ICC) launched an investigation into war crimes committed in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem and Gaza. But the ICC has not yet taken concrete steps to take the investigation forward.
Frustrated by the slow pace of the ICC investigation and the lack of clarity on how and when the investigation will proceed, three Palestinian human rights organizations issued a joint statement to the Assembly of Member States of the Rome Statute (the governing body of the ICC). on 6 December, saying, “We have not seen any concrete steps in this investigation, no action by the prosecutor to break the vicious cycle of impunity.”
He said, “The situation on the ground is getting worse year after year, month after month, day after day. We feel that we are left alone in our struggle. And the Palestinian victims are losing hope.”
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Initial news of the ICC investigation came on March 3, 2021, when Fatou Bensouda, the then chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), announced the launch of a formal investigation into war crimes committed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. , and the Gaza Strip, during and since Israel’s 2014 “Operation Protective Edge”, which resulted in the deaths of 2,251 Palestinians.
After a five-year preliminary examination, Bensouda found a reasonable basis to believe that the Israeli military committed the war crimes of intentional homicide, intentional grievous hurt, disproportionate use of force, and the transfer of Israelis to Palestinian territory. was executed. Bensouda also found that there was a reasonable basis for investigating possible war crimes by Palestinians, including deliberate attacks against civilians, using civilians as human shields, and torture and intentional killings.
The three Palestinian human rights organizations that issued a joint statement this month to raise concerns about the lack of progress in the ICC investigation are the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (a group that defends human rights and promotes the rule of law in accordance with international standards). ), Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights (a group that protects human rights, especially economic, social and cultural rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory) and Al-Haq (which reports on human rights violations in the Palestinian Territory). document). “In 2021, the opening of an investigation by the prosecutor is regarded as a huge leap forward,” the groups wrote in their joint statement. “After years of frustration, we hoped this marked the beginning of a new era of accountability for the grave crimes committed in Occupied Palestine.”
This year alone, the three groups added, more than 200 Palestinians, including many children, “were killed by Israel’s settler-colonial regime in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.” they also noted that lovely Palestinian al Jazeera Journalist Shirin Abu Akleh “was murdered in cold blood by an Israeli sniper in broad daylight.” Six major Palestinian civil society organizations, including Al-Haq and al-Haq, were shut down after being falsely designated as “terrorist organizations”.
Despite these incidents, the three organizations wrote, the ICC Prosecutor’s Office has not issued a single statement regarding Palestine. He compared the ICC Prosecutor’s inaction on Palestine with the situation in Ukraine, about which the Prosecutor’s Office has been very active. “It is also important that the same level of attention, activity and resources are applied to other situations, including Palestine, to avoid perceptions of selectivity and politicisation,” the groups wrote. “Victims should not compete for justice and double standards should not have a place in justice.”
On 21 November, Bezalel Smotrich, head of Israel’s far-right Religious Zionism Party, described Palestinian human rights organizations as a threat to Israel’s existence. He said that the incoming Israeli government should take legal and security measures against him, including “confiscating his wealth”.
Two days later, 198 Palestinian, regional and international civil society organizations (CSOs) – including the National Lawyers Guild, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Association of Democratic Lawyers – presented an open letter to Chief ICC Prosecutor Karim. Khan, wrote the letter, was downplaying the “missed opportunities for preventive statements over the past year”. The CSOs cited Israeli killings of Palestinians “without apparent provocation” as well as raids and attacks against worshipers at the Al Aqsa Mosque and Al-Haram Al-Sharif in occupied East Jerusalem.
The CSO said that three of the six designated “terrorist organizations” have been providing information to the ICC Prosecutor’s Office about “alleged serious crimes committed by Israeli nationals within the Court’s jurisdiction”. The CSO cited the Apartheid Convention, which lists apartheid as an “inhumane act”, “the oppression of organizations and individuals by the denial of fundamental rights and freedoms because they oppose apartheid.”
The CSOs wrote to the ICC Prosecutor, “While Israel’s targeting of these organizations may hinder the work of the ICC, there has been no public response by your office.” The CSO urged the Prosecutor’s Office to:
- publicly condemn and call on Israel to revoke terrorist designations;
- publicly confirm that the Prosecutor’s Office will investigate Israel’s crimes during its unprovoked military invasion in August 2022;
- Urgently expedite the ICC investigation into the situation in Palestine, including crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution; And
- Issue deterrence statements to stop Israeli crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu is assembling “the most extreme right-wing government Israel has ever seen,” attorney Diana Batu, a former adviser to the Palestine Liberation Organization’s negotiating team, wrote in an op-ed. new York Times. Netanyahu’s government would take up Smotrich’s suggestion to persecute Palestinian human rights organizations even more severely than the previous government, which designated them “terrorists” and closed their offices.
In addition, the main supporter of Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territory, the US government – which provides Israel with $3.8 billion in military aid annually – is pressuring Khan to drag his feet on the ICC investigation of Israel’s crimes. Has been
When US President Joe Biden visited Jerusalem in July, he and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid reaffirmed an agreement that they would “continue to work together to counter all efforts … to misdirect” to single [Israel] outside any forum including the United Nations or the International Criminal Court.
Although the United States denies joining the ICC, it has consistently sought to undermine it, expressing “serious concerns about the ICC’s attempts to exercise its jurisdiction over Israeli personnel”.
But on March 15, 100 US senators (who find it difficult to agree on anything) unanimously passed SR 546, which “requires member states to refer to the ICC or other appropriate international tribunal the investigation of war crimes and crimes against humanity.” Encourages to give petition for taking appropriate steps. Committed by the Russian Armed Forces.
To the Palestinians and their allies, the American hypocrisy is obvious. The United States criticizes select countries (such as Russia and China) for their human rights violations, but blatantly ignores Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territory and the commission of war crimes against the Palestinian people and crimes against humanity Is.
Opponents of Israel’s crimes should register their strong opposition to the United States enabling Israel’s oppression of Palestinians – both to their members of Congress and to the White House. Unless the US government receives a significant push, it will continue to facilitate Israel’s illegal occupation and violate the human rights of the Palestinian people. People may also join the boycott, divestment, sanctions movement to end international support for Israel’s oppression of Palestinians and to pressure Israel to comply with international law.
