{"id":150296,"date":"2019-12-23T12:00:36","date_gmt":"2019-12-23T12:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=150296"},"modified":"2024-06-12T21:25:24","modified_gmt":"2024-06-12T20:25:24","slug":"top-criminal-court-to-conduct-official-probe-into-alleged-war-crimes-in-palestine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2019\/12\/top-criminal-court-to-conduct-official-probe-into-alleged-war-crimes-in-palestine\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Criminal Court to Conduct Official Probe into Alleged War Crimes in Palestine"},"content":{"rendered":"

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20 Dec 2019 – Following a \u201cthorough, independent and objective assessment\u201d, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced today that she plans to open a formal investigation into alleged war crimes in Palestine, but asked the Court for a further ruling over territorial jurisdiction.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cThe preliminary examination into the Situation in Palestine has concluded with the determination that all the statutory criteria under the Rome Statute for the opening of an investigation have been met\u201d, ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said<\/a>, \u201cI am satisfied that there is a reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation into the situation in Palestine\u201d.<\/p>\n

Maintaining that \u201cwar crimes have been or are being committed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip\u201d, she believes that \u201cpotential cases arising from the situation would be admissible\u201d and that there were \u201cno substantial reasons to believe that an investigation would not serve justice\u201d.<\/p>\n

As Palestine itself had made the referral, Ms. Bensouda explained that she would not seek the Pre-Trial Chamber’s authorization before opening an investigation.<\/p>\n

However, given the \u201cunique and highly contested legal and factual issues\u201d attached to the situation, namely, \u201cthe territory within which the investigation may be conducted\u201d, she deemed it necessary to rely on article 19(3)<\/a> of the Statute to resolve this specific issue.<\/p>\n

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International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda.
ICC<\/p><\/div>\n

Pre-Trial determination<\/strong><\/p>\n

Earlier in the day she requested from Pre-Trial Chamber I, \u201ca jurisdictional ruling\u201d to confirm that the Court may exercise its jurisdiction over the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuch determination is made strictly for the purposes of determining the Court’s ability to exercise its jurisdiction and the scope of such jurisdiction under the Statute\u201d, she elaborated.<\/p>\n

She maintained that this \u201cfoundational question\u201d should be decided as swiftly as possible \u201cin the interests of victims and affected communities; potential witnesses and their related protection needs and obligations\u201d and to provide clarity for the States concerned.<\/p>\n

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#ICC<\/a> Prosecutor #FatouBensouda<\/a> concludes preliminary examination of #Palestine<\/a> situation, seeks ruling on scope of Court\u2019s territorial jurisdiction. Read \u27a1 https:\/\/t.co\/WhABAG6iGK<\/a><\/p>\n

— Int'l Criminal Court (@IntlCrimCourt) December 20, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n