Hague Court Under Western Pressure Not To Open Gaza War Crimes Inquiry

[pampango]

10. "Also at stake is the future of the ICC itself, an experiment in international justice that occupies

a fragile position with no superpower backing. Russia, China and India have refused to sign up to it. The US and Israel signed the accord in 2000 but later withdrew."

"An ICC investigation could have a far-reaching impact. It would not just examine alleged war crimes by the Israeli military, Hamas and other Islamist militants in the course of recent fighting in Gaza that left about 2,000 people dead, including women and children. It could also address the issue of Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories, for which the Israeli leadership would be responsible.

The ICC's founding charter, the 1998 Rome statute (pdf), describes as a war crime "the transfer, directly or indirectly, by the occupying power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies"."

Among the biggest contributors to the ICC budget are the UK and France, which have both sought to persuade the Palestinians to forego a war crimes investigation.

Our "American exceptionalists" on the right do not want the US bound by decisions of an international court or body. Apparently, politicians in Russia, China and India feel the same way.

Nice find, Purveyor.