International Criminal Court says it has jurisdiction in Palestinian territories

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

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FEBRUARY 5, 2021 12:29 PM UPDATED 3 HOURS AGO

International Criminal Court says it has jurisdiction in Palestinian territories

By Toby Sterling, Stephanie van den Berg
4 MIN READ

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Judges at the International Criminal Court on Friday found the court has jurisdiction over war crimes committed in the Palestinian territories, paving the way for a possible criminal investigation, despite Israeli objections.

The decision prompted swift reactions from both Israel, which is not a member of the court and rejects its jurisdiction, and the Palestinian Authority, which welcomed the ruling. The United States objected to the decision.

ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said her office was studying the decision and would decide what to do next “guided strictly by its independent and impartial mandate” to prosecute grave war crimes and atrocities when countries are unable or unwilling to do so themselves.

The ICC judges said their decision was based on the fact that Palestine has been granted membership to the tribunal’s founding treaty, and had referred the situation to the court. The judges said the jurisdiction decision does not imply any attempt to determine Palestinian statehood, which is uncertain, or national borders.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-icc-palestinians-israel/international-criminal-court-says-it-has-jurisdiction-in-palestinian-territories-idUSKBN2A52CW

[OAITW r.2.0]

1. I hope Biden joins the ICC again.

That would suck for Bush and Trump, though.

[Mosby]

3. Why would he do that?

They consider double-tap drone strikes war crimes.

Gitmo is illegal under "international law".

[RainCaster]

2. Yes! That would be great

Palestine has been waiting a long time for justice. Let's hope this is the beginning of that.

[Israeli]

4. Israeli settlements may face new scrutiny by ICC

In-depth: While any probe will focus on the 2014 Gaza war and border protests that began in 2018, international law makes Israel’s settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem vulnerable to even tougher scrutiny

Associated Press|
Published: 02.08.21

Israel’s ongoing settlement building in the West Bank, starting half a century ago, could be much harder to defend.
Some 700,000 Israelis now live in settlements built in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Settlements are widely viewed as illegal based on the Geneva Convention principle that an occupying power is barred from transferring its population to territories captured in war. Population transfers are listed as a war crime in the ICC’s founding treaty, the Rome Statute.
“The settlement issue is really the biggest issue. This is the elephant in the room,” said Yuval Shany, an expert on international law at the Israel Democracy Institute.

Shany said the court ruling means that Israeli settlement policy could come under hard-to-defend scrutiny. “This exposes basically the entire Israeli political elite that has been part of a settlement policy to criminal proceedings before the court,” he said. “This is a significant setback.”

Source : https://www.ynetnews.com/article/rk9eYv0gd