{"id":226141,"date":"2023-01-02T12:00:34","date_gmt":"2023-01-02T12:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=226141"},"modified":"2024-06-12T21:24:01","modified_gmt":"2024-06-12T20:24:01","slug":"icc-wanted-to-investigate-israeli-war-crimes-now-its-caving-to-us-pressure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2023\/01\/icc-wanted-to-investigate-israeli-war-crimes-now-its-caving-to-us-pressure\/","title":{"rendered":"ICC Wanted to Investigate Israeli War Crimes–Now It\u2019s Caving to US Pressure"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/a>

Palestinian children inspect their damaged building in Gaza City on August 9, 2022.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Two years after launching an investigation of war crimes in Palestine, the International Criminal Court is still dragging its feet.<\/em><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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17 Dec 2022 – <\/em>Nearly two years have passed since the International Criminal Court (ICC) began investigating war crimes committed in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza. But the ICC has yet to take concrete steps to move the investigation forward.Frustrated with the glacial pace of the ICC\u2019s investigation and the lack of clarity about how and when the investigation will proceed, three Palestinian human rights organizations issued a\u00a0joint statement<\/a>\u00a0to the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute (the management body of the ICC) on December 6, saying, \u201cWe have not seen any concrete step in this investigation, no action by the Prosecutor to break the vicious cycle of impunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

They added, \u201cThe situation on the ground is deteriorating year after year, month after month, day after day. We feel that we have been left alone in our struggle. And Palestinian victims are losing hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

The initial news of the ICC investigation came on March 3, 2021, when Fatou Bensouda, then-chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC),\u00a0announced<\/a>\u00a0the opening of a formal investigation into war crimes committed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, during and since Israel\u2019s 2014 \u201cOperation Protective Edge,\u201d which killed 2,251 Palestinians.<\/p>\n

Following a five-year preliminary examination, Bensouda found a\u00a0reasonable basis<\/a>\u00a0to believe that Israeli forces had committed the war crimes of willful killing, willfully causing serious injury, disproportionate use of force, and transfer of Israelis into Palestinian territory. Bensouda also found there was a reasonable basis to investigate possible war crimes by Palestinians, including intentional attacks against civilians, using civilians as human shields, and torture and willful killing.<\/p>\n

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 Centre for Human Rights (a group that protects 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 documents human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territory). \u201cIn 2021, the opening of an investigation by the Prosecutor was perceived as a huge leap forward,\u201d the groups wrote in their joint statement. \u201cAfter years of frustration, we hoped that it was the start of a new era of accountability for the grave crimes committed in occupied Palestine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This year alone, the three groups added, more than 200 Palestinians, including many children, were \u201ckilled by Israel\u2019s settler-colonial regime in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.\u201d They also\u00a0noted<\/a>\u00a0that beloved Palestinian\u00a0Al-Jazeera<\/em>\u00a0journalist Shireen Abu Akleh \u201cwas assassinated in cold blood by an Israeli sniper in broad daylight.\u201d And six prominent Palestinian civil society organizations, including Al-Haq, were\u00a0shut down<\/a>\u00a0after being\u00a0falsely designated<\/a>\u00a0as \u201cterrorist organizations.\u201d<\/p>\n

In spite of these events, the three organizations wrote, the ICC\u2019s Office of the Prosecutor hasn\u2019t issued a single statement concerning Palestine. They contrasted the ICC prosecutor\u2019s inaction on Palestine with the situation of Ukraine, about which the Office of the Prosecutor has been very proactive. \u201cIt is also crucial that the same level of attention, activity, and resources is applied to other situations including, Palestine, to avoid perceptions of selectivity and politicization,\u201d the groups wrote. \u201cVictims should not be competing for justice and double standards should not have a place in justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

On November 21, Bezalel Smotrich, head of Israel\u2019s far right Religious Zionism Party,\u00a0called<\/a>\u00a0Palestinian human rights organizations an existential threat to Israel. He said that the incoming Israeli government must take legal and security measures against them including \u201cseizing their funds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two days later, 198 Palestinian, regional and international civil society organizations (CSOs) \u2014 including the National Lawyers Guild, Center for Constitutional Rights, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and International Association of Democratic Lawyers \u2014 wrote an\u00a0open letter<\/a>\u00a0to Chief ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan, decrying \u201cmissed opportunities for preventive statements in the past year.\u201d The CSOs cited Israel\u2019s killing of Palestinians \u201cwithout clear provocation\u201d as well as raids and assaults against worshipers at the Al Aqsa Mosque and Al-Haram Al-Sharif in occupied East Jerusalem.<\/p>\n

Three of the six designated \u201cterrorist organizations,\u201d the CSOs noted, have been providing the ICC prosecutor\u2019s office with information about \u201calleged serious crimes committed by Israeli nationals within the jurisdiction of the Court.\u201d The CSOs cited the Apartheid Convention, which lists as an \u201cinhuman act\u201d of apartheid, the \u201cpersecution of organizations and persons by depriving them of fundamental rights and freedoms, because they oppose apartheid.\u201d<\/p>\n

The CSOs wrote to the ICC prosecutor, \u201cAlthough Israel\u2019s targeting of these organisations could hinder the work of the ICC, there has been no public reaction by your office.\u201d The CSOs urged the Office of the Prosecutor to:<\/p>\n

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  1. Publicly condemn and call on Israel to rescind the terrorist designations;<\/li>\n
  2. Publicly affirm that the Office of the Prosecutor will scrutinize Israel\u2019s crimes during its unprovoked military offensive in August 2022;<\/li>\n
  3. Urgently expedite the ICC investigation into the Situation of Palestine, including the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution; and<\/li>\n
  4. Issue preventive statements to deter Israel\u2019s crimes against humanity and war crimes.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu is assembling \u201cIsrael\u2019s most extreme right-wing government to date,\u201d attorney Diana Buttu, former adviser to the negotiating team of the Palestine Liberation Organization,\u00a0wrote<\/a>\u00a0in an op-ed in\u00a0The New York Times.\u00a0<\/em>Netanyahu\u2019s government will likely be receptive to Smotrich\u2019s suggestion to persecute Palestinian human rights organizations even more severely than the prior government that designated them \u201cterrorist\u201d and shut down their offices.<\/p>\n

    Moreover, the chief enabler of Israel\u2019s illegal occupation of Palestinian territory, the U.S. government \u2014 which annually provides Israel with $3.8 billion in military aid \u2014 is implicitly exerting pressure on Khan to drag his feet on the ICC investigation of Israeli crimes.<\/p>\n

    When U.S. President Joe Biden visited Jerusalem in July, he and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid concluded an agreement affirming they would \u201ccontinue to work together to combat all efforts . . . to unfairly single [Israel] out in any forum including at the United Nations or the International Criminal Court.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Although the United States refuses to join the ICC, it has consistently tried to undermine it,\u00a0expressing<\/a>\u00a0\u201cserious concerns about the ICC\u2019s attempts to exercise its jurisdiction over Israeli personnel.\u201d<\/p>\n

    But on March 15, 100 U.S. senators (who find it difficult to agree on anything) unanimously\u00a0passed<\/a>\u00a0SR 546, which \u201cencourages member states to petition the ICC or other appropriate international tribunal to take any appropriate steps to investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Russian Armed Forces.\u201d<\/p>\n

    To Palestinians and their allies, U.S. hypocrisy is palpable. The United States selectively criticizes some countries (such as Russia and China) for their human rights violations but pointedly ignores Israel\u2019s illegal occupation of Palestinian territory and its commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity against the Palestinian people.<\/p>\n

    Opponents of Israel\u2019s crimes should register their strong opposition to the United States\u2019 enabling of Israel\u2019s oppression of the Palestinians \u2014 both to their congress members and to the White House. As long as the U.S. government receives no significant pushback, it will continue to facilitate Israel\u2019s illegal occupation and violate the human rights of the Palestinian people. People can also join the\u00a0Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement<\/a>\u00a0to end international support for Israel\u2019s oppression of Palestinians and pressure Israel to comply with international law.<\/p>\n

    ____________________________<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a>Marjorie Cohn<\/a>\u00a0is professor emerita at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, former president of the National Lawyers Guild, and a member of the national advisory boards of\u00a0Assange Defense<\/a>, Veterans For Peace, and the Bureau of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers. Her books include\u00a0<\/em>Drones and Targeted Killing: Legal, Moral and Geopolitical Issues<\/a>. She is co-host of \u201c<\/em>Law and Disorder<\/a>\u201d radio.<\/em><\/p>\n

    Go to Original – scheerpost.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    17 Dec 2022 – Two years after launching an investigation of war crimes in Palestine, the International Criminal Court is still dragging its feet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":166369,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[928,532,101,100,2898,87,865,2395,2414,2415,2416,767,771,427,85,2897,880,99,92,1025,886],"class_list":["post-226141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-palestine-israel-gaza-genocide","tag-bds-boycott-divestment-sanctions","tag-colonialism","tag-cultural-violence","tag-direct-violence","tag-ecocide","tag-gaza","tag-genocide","tag-international-criminal-court-icc","tag-israeli-apartheid","tag-israeli-army","tag-israeli-occupation","tag-middle-east","tag-nakba","tag-palestine","tag-palestine-israel","tag-sociocide","tag-state-terrorism","tag-structural-violence","tag-violent-conflict","tag-west-bank","tag-zionism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226141"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":264098,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226141\/revisions\/264098"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}