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ICC Effort to Avoid Netanyahu Prosecution

by Oui Fri Oct 18th, 2024 at 07:20:49 PM EST

ICC Bends Over Backward to Avoid Netanyahu Prosecution

As ICC officials are threatened not to interfere with Israel's genocide of Palestinians, international justice falters, mistrust breeds

Hypocrisy creates mistrust

Offered Israel an escape route through complementarity ...

ICC Loses Test of WWII UN International Order


Crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court committed in the 'Situation' since 13 June 2014

ICC Investigation State of Palestine

Crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court that are alleged to have been committed in the Situation since 13 June 2014, the date to which reference is made in the Referral of the Situation to the Office of the Prosecutor.

On 3 March 2021, the Prosecutor announced the opening of the investigation into the Situation in the State of Palestine. This followed Pre-Trial Chamber I's decision on 5 February 2021 that the Court could exercise its criminal jurisdiction in the Situation and, by majority, that the territorial scope of this jurisdiction extends to Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

ICC's Battle with Israel and Western Supporters

'Alarming': Palestinians accuse ICC prosecutor of bias after Israel visit | Al Jazeera - 2 Dec 2023 |

While the ICC offers an alternative to Israeli courts, no arrest warrants have been issued against Israeli officials and commanders.

Occupied West Bank -- On December 2, Eman Nafii was one of dozens of Palestinians invited to meet Prosecutor Karim Khan of the International Criminal Court in the occupied West Bank. As the wife of the longest-serving Palestinian prisoner in Israel, Nafi wanted to speak to Khan about her husband and the Israeli occupation.

But Khan spent most of the meeting talking, before his team gave Nafi and other Palestinian victims just 10 minutes to share their stories.

"People got angry. They told him, `You are coming to listen to us for 10 minutes? How are we going to tell you about our stories in 10 minutes," Nafi told Al Jazeera.

"One of the women (with us) was from Gaza. She lost 30 members of her family in the (ongoing war). She shouted, `How can we explain this in 10 minutes.'"

While Khan ended up listening to the victims for about an hour, Palestinians fear that he is applying a double standard by solely focusing his efforts on Hamas and ignoring the grave crimes Israel is accused of having perpetrated over two months of a deadly war.

Many were disappointed that Khan accepted an Israeli invitation to visit Israeli communities and areas that Hamas attacked on October 7, while declining an offer from Palestinians to visit the hundreds of illegal Israeli settlements, checkpoints and refugee camps in the occupied West Bank.

[...]

During his three-day visit, Israel also did not allow Khan to enter Gaza, where Israel has killed more than 17,000 people and displaced most of the besieged enclave's 2.3 million inhabitants from their homes since October 7.

Most of those killed have been women and children, while thousands of young men are now being rounded up, many of them stripped and taken to undisclosed locations. Legal experts have warned that Israel's atrocities in Gaza may soon amount to genocide.

Despite the mounting evidence and ongoing atrocities, Khan has shown little interest in seriously probing Israel, according to Palestinian officials, victims and legal scholars.

"[The Palestinian Authority] gave him retroactive jurisdiction from 2014. [Khan] cannot say that he didn't see crimes being committed [in the occupied territories] from 2014 until October 7," Awadallah told Al Jazeera.

British The Guardian: Yossi Cohen used "vile methods" to pressure the ICC prosecutor in The Hague

Complementarity In the Palestine Situation at the ICC: Could Article 70 Conduct Render Israel "Unwilling" to Investigate Genuinely? | TOI |

In recent allegations that Israeli officials interfered with the ICC's work on Palestine, +972 Magazine, Local Call, and The Guardian documented a nine-year, state-orchestrated campaign of spying, hacking and intimidation against the Court. Described as deeply-disturbing attempts to pervert the course of justice, the legal commentary has discussed the potential for ICC arrest warrants under Article 70 of the Rome Statute for offences against the administration of justice, and for Dutch national investigations. Yet the alleged Israeli interference also holds relevance for the admissibility of ICC cases under the "unwillingness" criterion of Article 17 of the Statute.

Even though Israel is not a State Party, and is unlikely to engage with the ICC, procedural avenues exist to challenge the admissibility of cases against Israeli officials by arguing that  national investigations are underway, such that the same case is inadmissible at the ICC. However, the allegations that Israel interfered unlawfully in the Prosecutor's investigations would be a strong factual indicator that, instead of being willing genuinely to investigate, Israel has been simply attempting to shield defendants from ICC proceedings. In this regard, Israel might look to how the Office of the Prosecutor ("OTP") addressed similar issues in the Preliminary Examination into Iraq/UK in its decision not to proceed on 9 December 2020, wherein the OTP considered evidence that UK authorities had orchestrated a "cover-up" to protect members of the British armed forces from ICC prosecution.

From my earlier analysis on awkward or weird conduct by lead ICC prosecutor Karim Khan ...

ICC Complementarity and UK War Crimes in Iraq

Recently posted as a comment ...

Will Khan Offer Israel a Stay Out of Jail Card ... | 14 May 2024 |

Will the threatened ICC prosecutor accept Joe's proposal to drop the case in lieu of a joint judicial investigation by the U.S. and Israel, perhaps a neutral country added such as Tovu. 🥵

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Uncle Robbie Thorpe files private prosecution against Netanyahu adviser for advocating genocide | PEN Melbourne |

Thorpe and lawyer Daniel Taylor were at the Court to hear opening statements at their private prosecution of Mark Regev, Benjamin Netanyahu's former Senior Advisor for Foreign Affairs and Communication. Regev has joint Australian and Israeli citizenship and is also the former Israeli Ambassador to the UK.

Regev is being charged with Advocacy for Genocide, section 80.2D of the Australian Criminal Code, for public comments advocating for Genocide of the Palestinian people in the Australian Media. He was served in Israel a few weeks ago with the charge sheet and summons.
 
Appearing for Regev, lawyer Dennis Miralis stated to Deputy Chief Magistrate Bourke that the State of Israel had sent a formal diplomatic note to the Australian Government about the case, and had contacted the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, seeking her intervention to quash the case, and that the DPP is aware of the case. Magistrate Bourke set the next hearing for the 10th December, subject to any issues of extra-territoriality or DPP.

I have often written about Netanyahu close advisor Mark Regev ... the worst of the worse and emperor of Hasbara ... LIES and DISINFORMATION. 🤥 🤥 🤥

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Mon Oct 21st, 2024 at 12:07:52 PM EST
Smearing ICC prosecutor Karim Khan ... years of undermining the ICC to keep the Zionist dream and erase Palestine.

More about Caroline Glick ...

In my diaries and @TikunOlam

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sun Oct 27th, 2024 at 07:55:36 PM EST
ICC prosecutor allegedly tried to suppress sexual misconduct claims against him | The Guardian |

Exclusive: Karim Khan denies claims he repeatedly urged alleged victim to disavow allegations against him

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sun Oct 27th, 2024 at 07:56:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Who is preventing ICC from arresting Netanyahu? | Daily Sabah |

As ICC officials are threatened not to interfere with Israel's genocide of Palestinians, international justice falters, mistrust breeds

Hypocrisy creates mistrust

As we can see, a pressure mechanism is in place, led by the U.S., to prevent the ICC from issuing an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and Gallant. Although the U.S. has no say in the court's decisions because it is not subject to the Rome Statute, it can exert direct or indirect pressure on the court through its military and economic power. But this situation is a sore spot in the conscience of the international community, especially the victimized Palestinians, and undermines confidence in law, courts and justice. On the one hand, the U.S. administration is using international courts as an instrument of pressure to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, while on the other hand, it is trying to prevent any decision from being taken against Israel, which has massacred 40,000 civilians in Gaza.

So, this situation is fuelling anger and rage against the U.S. while at the same time reducing confidence in the courts. Similarly, no one expects justice from a court that is a "pawn of the U.S." The disappearance of trust in international courts, one of the fundamental pillars of the current global system, will also call the system into question, and the U.N. may collapse and be replaced by anarchy and chaos solely to protect the occupying and genocidal Israel.



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Fri Nov 1st, 2024 at 07:53:55 PM EST
Difficulties @ICC pre-trial chamber of three judges and more delay 🤬

Situation in State of Palestine:
Decision replacing a judge in Pre-Trial Chamber I

On 25 October 2024, noting that Judge Iulia Motoc [Romania] considered that she needed to be excused from the situation in the State of Palestine 'based on medical grounds and the need to safeguard the proper administration of justice', the Presidency granted the Request. The Presidency notes further that the personal medical situation of Judge Motoc is entitled to medical confidentiality.

Judge Reine Alapini-Gansou
Judge Nicolas Guillou
Judge Beti Hohler



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Wed Nov 6th, 2024 at 02:35:46 PM EST
Turmoil at the ICC as fears rise over Israel and the U.S. interference | Mondoweiss |

The delay in issuing ICC warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, followed by the replacement of the presiding judge, has raised serious concerns about the court's functioning and possible machinations behind the scenes. 

Israel, a state that had enjoyed 75 years of Western-backed impunity, was finally, it seemed, being called to account for its crimes. Already on trial for genocide in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and the subject of a series of provisional orders there, Israeli leaders received notice in May from across town in The Hague that the net was continuing to close. 

The request submitted in May by the prosecutor to the ICC for warrants to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant brought a predictable response from Israel, which launched angry recriminations, invective, and the usual tactical smears against the Court. 

My anger 😡 only increases by the day as the slaughter nears completion ...

SHAME ON USA 🇺🇸 USAID -- Samantha Power

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Wed Nov 6th, 2024 at 02:36:34 PM EST
[ Parent ]
in Netanyahu arrest case | US News - 13 Nov 2024 | (Reuters)

The request requires the approval of ICC judges, but their decision has been delayed, partly because of several rounds of legal filings by Israel that have challenged the court's jurisdiction.

Israel has questioned the impartiality of an International Criminal Court judge appointed to a panel deciding whether an arrest warrant should be issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In a further delay, Romanian magistrate Iulia Motoc, citing health grounds, asked last month to leave the three-judge panel that is reviewing the request for arrest warrants. She has been replaced by ICC Judge Beti Hohler, who is Slovenian.

The Office of the Attorney-General of Israel said in a statement, dated Nov. 11 and seen by Reuters on Wednesday, that Hohler had worked for the Office of the Prosecutor before she was elected as an ICC judge last December.

"Israel respectfully requests that judge Beti Hohler provide information to clarify whether there are (or are not) grounds to reasonably doubt her impartiality," it said.

"Israel does not suggest that judge Hohler's previous employment with the OTP necessarily or automatically gives rise to a reasonable apprehension of a lack of impartiality," it said. "However, judges of this Court have acknowledged that previous duties within the OTP may, depending on the circumstances, give rise to a reasonable apprehension of bias."

The move could further delay a decision in the case, in which the ICC chief prosecutor filed a request in May for arrest warrants against Netanyahu, Israel's then-defense minister, Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders over the Gaza war.

Toward a Fuller Understanding of U.S. Legal Objections to ICC Arrest Warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, Part I | Just Security |

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Thu Nov 14th, 2024 at 08:32:56 AM EST

ICC issues arrest warrants for Israeli PM Netanyahu, former DM Gallant: BREAKING | MEMO |

In a landmark move, the International Criminal Court on Thursday announced it had issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over war crimes it accuses them of carrying out in Palestinian territories, including Gaza.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Thu Nov 21st, 2024 at 05:14:22 PM EST

In bombshell ruling, ICC issues arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant over Gaza war | Times of Israel |

3 judges vote unanimously to pursue alleged crimes against humanity, making Israeli premier, ex-defense chief internationally sought suspects; PM's office slams 'antisemitic decision'

In a massive legal bombshell, the International Criminal Court on Thursday issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant over the war in Gaza, an unprecedented step that put the two at risk of being detained in much of the world.

The three judges of the ICC's Pre-Trial Chamber I issued the warrants unanimously on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes, which the court's top prosecutor Karim Khan alleges were committed during the ongoing war against the Hamas terror group in Gaza.

The decision marked the first time the ICC has ever issued arrest warrants against leaders of a democratic country.

Both Netanyahu and Gallant will be liable for arrest if they travel to any of the more than 120 countries that are party to the ICC.



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Thu Nov 21st, 2024 at 05:15:24 PM EST
Previous diaries ...



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Thu Nov 21st, 2024 at 05:21:20 PM EST
[ Parent ]


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Thu Nov 21st, 2024 at 05:16:26 PM EST
The picture of Israel that emerged from an investigation published by the British newspaper the Guardian and the Israeli website +972 Magazine and its sister site Local Call is akin to the Cosa Nostra.

Surveillance and interference: Israel's covert war on the ICC exposed | +972 Mag - 16 June 2024 |

Top Israeli government and security officials have overseen a nine-year surveillance operation targeting the ICC and Palestinian rights groups to try to thwart a war crimes probe, a joint investigation reveals.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Thu Nov 21st, 2024 at 05:17:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]


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