#Fatou Bensouda
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Our ally who we're throwing away the international rules-based order, our reputation and safety, and possibly this election for:
Um???
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Harry Davies, Bethan McKernan, Yuval Abraham, and Meron Rapoport at The Guardian:
When the chief prosecutor of the international criminal court (ICC) announced he was seeking arrest warrants against Israeli and Hamas leaders, he issued a cryptic warning: âI insist that all attempts to impede, intimidate or improperly influence the officials of this court must cease immediately.â Karim Khan did not provide specific details of attempts to interfere in the ICCâs work, but he noted a clause in the courtâs foundational treaty that made any such interference a criminal offence. If the conduct continued, he added, âmy office will not hesitate to actâ. The prosecutor did not say who had attempted to intervene in the administration of justice, or how exactly they had done so. Now, an investigation by the Guardian and the Israeli-based magazines +972 and Local Call can reveal how Israel has run an almost decade-long secret âwarâ against the court. The country deployed its intelligence agencies to surveil, hack, pressure, smear and allegedly threaten senior ICC staff in an effort to derail the courtâs inquiries.
Israeli intelligence captured the communications of numerous ICC officials, including Khan and his predecessor as prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, intercepting phone calls, messages, emails and documents. The surveillance was ongoing in recent months, providing Israelâs prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, with advance knowledge of the prosecutorâs intentions. A recent intercepted communication suggested that Khan wanted to issue arrest warrants against Israelis but was under âtremendous pressure from the United Statesâ, according to a source familiar with its contents. Bensouda, who as chief prosecutor opened the ICCâs investigation in 2021, paving the way for last weekâs announcement, was also spied on and allegedly threatened. Netanyahu has taken a close interest in the intelligence operations against the ICC, and was described by one intelligence source as being âobsessedâ with intercepts about the case. Overseen by his national security advisers, the efforts involved the domestic spy agency, the Shin Bet, as well as the militaryâs intelligence directorate, Aman, and cyber-intelligence division, Unit 8200. Intelligence gleaned from intercepts was, sources said, disseminated to government ministries of justice, foreign affairs and strategic affairs.
A covert operation against Bensouda, revealed on Tuesday by the Guardian, was run personally by Netanyahuâs close ally Yossi Cohen, who was at the time the director of Israelâs foreign intelligence agency, the Mossad. At one stage, the spy chief even enlisted the help of the then president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Joseph Kabila. Details of Israelâs nine-year campaign to thwart the ICCâs inquiry have been uncovered by the Guardian, an Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and Local Call, a Hebrew-language outlet. The joint investigation draws on interviews with more than two dozen current and former Israeli intelligence officers and government officials, senior ICC figures, diplomats and lawyers familiar with the ICC case and Israelâs efforts to undermine it. Contacted by the Guardian, a spokesperson for the ICC said it was aware of âproactive intelligence-gathering activities being undertaken by a number of national agencies hostile towards the courtâ. They said the ICC was continually implementing countermeasures against such activity, and that ânone of the recent attacks against it by national intelligence agenciesâ had penetrated the courtâs core evidence holdings, which had remained secure.
A spokesperson for Israelâs prime ministerâs office said: âThe questions forwarded to us are replete with many false and unfounded allegations meant to hurt the state of Israel.â A military spokesperson added: âThe IDF [Israel Defense Forces] did not and does not conduct surveillance or other intelligence operations against the ICC.â Since it was established in 2002, the ICC has served as a permanent court of last resort for the prosecution of individuals accused of some of the worldâs worst atrocities. It has charged the former Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, the late Libyan president Muammar Gaddafi and most recently, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. Khanâs decision to seek warrants against Netanyahu and his defence minister, Yoav Gallant, along with Hamas leaders implicated in the 7 October attack, marks the first time an ICC prosecutor has sought arrest warrants against the leader of a close western ally.
[...] That âwarâ commenced in January 2015, when it was confirmed that Palestine would join the court after it was recognised as a state by the UN general assembly. Its accession was condemned by Israeli officials as a form of âdiplomatic terrorismâ. One former defence official familiar with Israelâs counter-ICC effort said joining the court had been âperceived as the crossing of a red lineâ and âperhaps the most aggressiveâ diplomatic move taken by the Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank. âTo be recognised as a state in the UN is nice,â they added. âBut the ICC is a mechanism with teeth.â [...] Israel, like the US, Russia and China, is not a member. After Palestineâs acceptance as an ICC member, any alleged war crimes â committed by those of any nationality â in occupied Palestinian territories now fell under Bensoudaâs jurisdiction.
The Guardian's report on how Israel led a 9-year intimidation war campaign against the ICC is a must-read.
#Israel#ICC#International Criminal Court#Benjamin Netanyahu#Karim Khan#Fatou Bensouda#Occupation of Palestine
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#israel is a terrorist state#israel is committing genocide#israeli war crimes#israel is an apartheid state#israeli terrorism#israel#israhell#icc#icj hearing#icj ruling#icj case#icj genocide case#icj#mossad#yossi cohen#fatou bensouda#palestine#free palestine#freepalastineđ”đž#gaza strip#gaza genocide#free gaza#gazaunderattack#gaza#all eyes on rafah#save rafah#free rafah#rafah under attack#rafah#ausgov
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In stile mafioso, l'ex capo del Mossad ha minacciato un procuratore della Corte Penale Internazionale, chiedendogli di abbandonare lâindagine sui crimini di Netanyahu:âNon Ăš il caso di immischiarsi in cose che potrebbero compromettere la sua sicurezza o quella della sua famigliaâ @rulajebreal
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The former head of the Mossad, Israelâs foreign intelligence agency, allegedly threatened a chief prosecutor of the international criminal court in a series of secret meetings in which he tried to pressure her into abandoning a war crimes investigation, the Guardian can reveal.
Yossi Cohenâs covert contacts with the ICCâs then prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, took place in the years leading up to her decision to open a formal investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in occupied Palestinian territories.
That investigation, launched in 2021, culminated last week when Bensoudaâs successor, Karim Khan, announced that he was seeking an arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, over the countryâs conduct in its war in Gaza.
The prosecutorâs decision to apply to the ICCâs pre-trial chamber for arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his defence minister, Yoav Gallant, alongside three Hamas leaders, is an outcome Israelâs military and political establishment has long feared.
Cohenâs personal involvement in the operation against the ICC took place when he was the director of the Mossad. His activities were authorised at a high level and justified on the basis the court posed a threat of prosecutions against military personnel, according to a senior Israeli official.
Another Israeli source briefed on the operation against Bensouda said the Mossadâs objective was to compromise the prosecutor or enlist her as someone who would cooperate with Israelâs demands.
A third source familiar with the operation said Cohen was acting as Netanyahuâs âunofficial messengerâ.
Cohen, who was one of Netanyahuâs closest allies at the time and is emerging as a political force in his own right in Israel, personally led the Mossadâs involvement in an almost decade-long campaign by the country to undermine the court.
(continue reading)
#politics#palestine#israel#yossi cohen#fatou bensouda#icc#international criminal court#war crimes#rafah#extortion#israel is a terrorist state#mossad
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Israel-Gaza War: Norman Finkelstein Debates The "Genocide" In Palestine | The Full Interview
Al Arabiya English
Jun 5, 2024
âIsrael is carrying out a genocide in Gazaâ American political scientist Norman Finkelstein told Al Arabiya English's Riz Khan.
Speaking in an exclusive interview, Finkelstein said the population of Gaza âsealed off from the worldâ is facing a âdeath sentenceâ following the long-time denial of aid â primarily food, water, fuel and medical supply.
Finkelstein is an American academic whose forthright analysis of the Israel-Gaza conflict has provoked strong opinions over many years. He's no less outspoken in this exclusive interview, in which he delivers his own hard talking judgment on the international courts, the ICJ and the ICC.
#Norman Finkelstein#Riz Khan#interview#Gaza#Palestine#Israel#ICJ#ICC#Al Arabiya#2024#Joan Donoghue#student protests#Great March of Return#Hamas#self defense#Karim Khan#Fatou Bensouda#mowing the lawn#politics#Youtube
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FATOU BENSOUDA: âHISTORY WILL JUDGE USâ
20 MAY 2021Â
Fatou Bensouda: âHistory will judge usâ - JusticeInfo.net
With no remorse or regrets, the Gambian prosecutor points to her successes in the trials of middle-ranking personalities and advises her successor, British lawyer Karim Khan, to stay away from politics. âSomething that I have experienced is pressure, attacks and politicization [but] what we do in this office is critically important,â she says. âHistory will judge us.â
Bensouda tells us investigative strategies have evolved towards the collection of more material, open source and forensic evidence
In April 2018 -- following the 2017-2018 Rohingya Crisis in which hundreds of thousands of mostly-Muslim Rohingya people in western Myanmar's Rakhine State were attacked or driven from their homes by government and civilian attackers, in alleged ethnic cleansing and genocide -- Bensouda sought a ruling from the ICC that it had jurisdiction over the crisis, despite Myanmar having never ratified the Rome Statute. Because many of the Rohingya were driven into neighboring Bangladesh, a signatory to the statute, the court concurred with her, and a full-scale investigation was initiated.
NOW:
Revealed: Israeli spy chief âthreatenedâ ICC prosecutor over war crimes inquiry
Revealed: Israeli spy chief âthreatenedâ ICC prosecutor over war crimes inquiry | Israel | The Guardian
#FATOU BENSOUDA#AFRICA#ICC#genocide#palestine#ukraine#russia#rohingya#gaza#space#save rafah#free rafah#israel is committing genocide#all eyes on gaza#save gaza#free gaza#free palestine#save palestine#all eyes on palestine#save the children#i stand with palestine#israel is a terrorist state#israeli war crimes#israel#israelis are war criminals#israelis are terrorists#israeli terrorism#israel is an apartheid state#israel is an illegal occupier#israel is a war criminal
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The former head of the Mossad, Israelâs foreign intelligence agency, allegedly threatened a chief prosecutor of the international criminal court in a series of secret meetings in which he tried to pressure her into abandoning a war crimes investigation, the Guardian can reveal. Yossi Cohenâs covert contacts with the ICCâs then prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, took place in the years leading up to her decision to open a formal investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in occupied Palestinian territories. That investigation, launched in 2021, culminated last week when Bensoudaâs successor, Karim Khan, announced that he was seeking an arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, over the countryâs conduct in its war in Gaza. The prosecutorâs decision to apply to the ICCâs pre-trial chamber for arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his defence minister, Yoav Gallant, alongside three Hamas leaders, is an outcome Israelâs military and political establishment has long feared. Cohenâs personal involvement in the operation against the ICC took place when he was the director of the Mossad. His activities were authorised at a high level and justified on the basis the court posed a threat of prosecutions against military personnel, according to a senior Israeli official. Another Israeli source briefed on the operation against Bensouda said the Mossadâs objective was to compromise the prosecutor or enlist her as someone who would cooperate with Israelâs demands. A third source familiar with the operation said Cohen was acting as Netanyahuâs âunofficial messengerâ.
continue reading
Now why would the Israel military and political establishment fear such an outcome, after all, they have repeatedly assured us the Israeli military acts with the utmost probity and respects the totality of the Geneva Convention? If they have nothing to hide, they have nothing to fear.
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The White Houseâs Defense of âThe Fascist, War Criminal, Genocidal and The Zionist đ đ· đ đsâ Illegal Regime of Isra-hellâ Is Undermining International Law
The United States tends to hail the ICC when it prosecutes American enemies, but assails the court when it goes after U.S. allies.
â By Sarah Leah Whitson | September 18, 2024 | Foreign Policy
Two War Criminal, Corrupt and Genocidals: U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Fascist, Zionist đ and Prime Minister of the Illegal Regimeof Isra-hell Benjamin Satan-Yahu in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., on July 25, 2024 Andrew Harnike/Getty Images
The United Statesâ U.N. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield struck an aggressive blow against the rules-based international order at a Council on Foreign Relations talk last week. In response to my question about whether the U.S. government would comply with the orders of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to cease assistance to Israel for its illegal occupation and expected International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrants for Isra-helli Prime Minister Benjamin Satan-Yahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallantâboth of whom have been indicted by the ICCâthe U.N. ambassador was definitive: The U.S. government would not comply with any warrant because it has a âproblem with the courtâs ruling.â
âLet Be Be Clear,â she said. âWe Would Not Arrest [Satan-Yahu].â
While the âHypocrite, War Criminal, Genocidal, Corrupt and Morally Bankrupted United Statesâ is not a member of the ICC and is therefore not obligated to comply with the courtâs arrest warrants, Washington has cooperated when the ICC has targeted U.S. adversaries. Indeed, when the ICC issued arrest warrants against officials of other Non-ICC Member States, like Russian President Vladimir Putin and Former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, the U.S. government celebrated those decisions and urged cooperation with the court. Indeed, U.S. President Genocidal Joe Biden âWelcomedâ the ICCâs arrest warrant for Putin for war crimes in Ukraine and ordered the U.S. government to start sharing information about possible Russian war crimes with the court.
Congress went so far as to revoke provisions in U.S. laws that prohibited cooperating with an ICC investigation at least insofar as they pertain to Ukraine, and issued a resolution commending the prosecutor for securing the warrant. Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham chimed in, saying that âthis arrest warrant is extremely significant because itâs an action of an international evidence-based body that will stand the test of history.â
Graham took a markedly different tone when the court indicted Israeli officials however, calling them âoutrageous actions by the ICC against the State of Israel and I will feverishly work with colleagues on both sides of the aisle in both chambers to levy damning sanctions against the ICCâŠâ He attacked the very same prosecutor who had indicted Putin as âdrunk with self-importance.â
This is not the first instance of states refusing to cooperate with the ICC. Even some member states have failed to execute arrest warrants the court has issued, like Mongoliaâs refusal to arrest Putin earlier this month when he visited, or Jordanâs and South Africaâs failure to arrest Bashir.
Thomas-Greenfieldâs declaration means that the United States, the supposed enforcer of the international rules-based order, is now keeping company with states that ignore the courtâs orders. This sort of rhetoric from leading U.S. officials further erodes the standing of all international courts and will be used as a justification by authoritarian governments who will copy the U.S. playbook to reject international law and ignore those seeking to enforce it.
The War Criminal and Genocidal Biden Administration has made no secret of its disdain for the International Criminal Courtâs decision to prosecute Isra-helli officials and members of Palestinian armed groups for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other violations of the Rome Statute since 2014, following the State of Palestineâs 2018 referral.
On June 4, the U.S. House of Representatives once again passed a bill to sanction the prosecutor, and twelve U.S. senators responded to the prosecutorâs request for warrants by threatening, âTarget Israel and we will target you. If you move forward ⊠we will move to end all American support for the ICC, sanction your employees and associates, and bar you and your families from the United States. You have been warned.â
While both War Criminal and Genocidal Secretary of State Antony Blinken and President Joe Biden complained that the ICC had âEquatedâ Hamas and Israel, presumably because he requested arrest warrants for both Israeli and Hamas officials, Thomas-Greenfieldâs comments are the first time that a senior U.S. official has baldly declared that Washington will defy an ICC arrest warrant.
To justify this stance, Thomas-Greenfield explained that the U.S. âhas questionsâ about the courtâs exercise of jurisdiction over Israel, presumably referring to the Biden administrationâs rejection of the courtâs jurisdiction over Israeli nationals. (She also incorrectly asserted that the U.S. had already reflected its unwillingness to arrest Netanyahu when he visited Washington in July, suggesting that the court had issued the arrest warrants, although it has not).
The question of territorial jurisdiction, however, is a matter that the court ruled on in 2021, refusing Israelâs arguments challenging jurisdiction, recognizing Palestine as a member state of the court with legal capacity to refer a case in its territory to the court, and reiterating the courtâs authority to exercise jurisdiction over non-member state nationals who commit crimes in such a territory.
The fact that Netanyahu is the head of government in Israel does not immunize him from international criminal prosecution. The ICC has previously held that such domestic immunities do not trump an ICC arrest warrant because they would undermine the ICCâs purpose, including Article 27 of the Rome Statute, which provides that âall people are subject to the statute without distinction based on official capacity.â
The court furthermore clarified that complying with an arrest warrant does not mean subjecting a head of state to domestic prosecutionâsomething that domestic immunity statutes prohibit âbut merely transferring them to the The Hague for international criminal prosecution.
More significantly, Thomas-Greenfieldâs suggestion that compliance with a courtâs rulings is optional depending on whether or not a government agrees with a ruling further undermines the very basis of the ICCâs capacity to act as an international court with the power to issue binding decisions. Basically, Washingtonâs message to the world is that it loves the ICC when it prosecutes Americaâs enemies and hates the court when it prosecutes its friends.
While the Biden administration in 2021 canceled U.S. sanctions against the Previous ICC prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, her staff, and their families that the Trump administration imposed on them for pursuing the prosecution of Israelis and Americans, it has not stopped pressuring the New Prosecutor, Karim Khan, to back off; Khan said that âsome elected leadersâ even told him, that the ICC âwas built for Africaâ and for âthugs like Putinâ but not Western or Western-backed leaders.
Israeli officials have continued their nine-year campaign to spy on, harass, pressure, smear and threaten both the current and former prosecutors in an attempt to derail the investigation. It is exactly such attacks on the court in the face of the first prosecution of a U.S. ally that have led a number of African states to threaten to withdraw from the court, seeing it as mere cudgel with which to beat African abusers, while never allowing it to move against U.S. allies.
A related question Thomas-Greenfield refused to answer was whether the United States would comply with the orders issued by the International Court of Justice, which hears disputes between states. In a recent advisory opinion ruling, the ICJ ruled that Israelâs occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal and that it must remove its forces and settlers from there and reverse its illegal annexations.
The court ordered states not to recognize any illegal Israeli acts, such as annexations (The Trump administration recognized Israelâs annexations of East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, but the Biden administration has not reversed these.) More significantly, the court said that states are under obligation ânot to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by Israelâs illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.â
This is a problem for the U.S government, if it is to obey the directives of a court of which it is a founding member, by virtue of Washingtonâs ratification of the United Nations Charter. Thatâs because the United States is Isra-hellâs largest aid provider, with over $20 billion in military aid provided in 2024, and more than that in arms sales authorizations.
As a result, such aid not only violates U.S. laws prohibiting arms to states that violate human rights, but a direct order from the ICJ. The U.S. Mission to the United Nationâs tweet this week stating that it will vote against a pending U.N. General Assembly resolution to enforce the advisory opinion is a pretty clear indication that the U.S. has no intention of complying with the ICJ.
The continued transfer of U.S. weapons to Israel may well become the source of charges against the U.S. government in the ICJ occupation case (as well as the separate case South Africa initiated concerning genocide claims against Israel), but also against individual U.S. officials in the ICC case, for aiding and abetting the crimes with which Israel is charged.
During Her Talk, Thomas-Greenfield made a point of remembering her âFriend and Mentorâ Madeleine Albright (Now The Witch is Staying, Resting, Rotting and Burning đ„ in Hell Forever). I suspect Thomas-Greenfieldâs remarks last week may go down as her very own Albright moment.
In 1996, then-Secretary of State Albright infamously responded to 60 Minutes host Lesley Stahlâs question about Whether the âPriceâ of U.S. Sanctions in Iraq, Which had Caused âHalf a Million Dead Iraqi Children⊠More Children Than Died in Hiroshimaâ was âWorth It,â by saying âI Think Itâs a Very Hard Choice, But the PriceâWe Think the Price is Worth It.â
Itâs sad and somewhat ironic to have solicited an equally damning response from Thomas-Greenfield, highlighting, 30 years later, the persistence of the United Statesâ highly selective use of international law as a political cudgel against opponents, but never against itself or U.S. allies.
The downside of this approach, of course, is that International Lawâand the courts responsible for upholding itâcannot survive the Worldâs leading Superpowerâs continued assaults, and will continue to crumble, to the detriment of all those international legal institutions are meant to serve, Americans included.
â Sarah Leah Whitson is the Executive Director of Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN). She was Formerly the Executive Director of the Middle East and North Africa Division of Human Rights Watch.
#Foreign Policy#The War Criminal | Genocidal | Corrupt | United States đșđž#âThe Fascist War Criminal Genocidal and The Zionist đ đ· đ đsâ Illegal Regime of Isra-hellâ#International Law#International Court of Justice (ICJ)#International Criminal Court (ICC)#Non-ICC Member States#Russian đ·đș President Vladimir Putin | Former Sudanese đžđ© President Omar al-Bashir#War Criminal Secretary of State Antony Blinken#Former ICC Prosecutor | Fatou Bensouda#Present Prosecutor | Karim Khan
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The former head of the Mossad, Israelâs foreign intelligence agency, allegedly threatened a chief prosecutor of the international criminal court in a series of secret meetings in which he tried to pressure her into abandoning a war crimes investigation, the Guardian can reveal.
Yossi Cohenâs covert contacts with the ICCâs then prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, took place in the years leading up to her decision to open a formal investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in occupied Palestinian territories. That investigation, launched in 2021, culminated last week when Bensoudaâs successor, Karim Khan, announced that he was seeking an arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, over the countryâs conduct in its war in Gaza. The prosecutorâs decision to apply to the ICCâs pre-trial chamber for arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his defence minister, Yoav Gallant, alongside three Hamas leaders, is an outcome Israelâs military and political establishment has long feared. Cohenâs personal involvement in the operation against the ICC took place when he was the director of the Mossad. His activities were authorised at a high level and justified on the basis the court posed a threat of prosecutions against military personnel, according to a senior Israeli official. Another Israeli source briefed on the operation against Bensouda said the Mossadâs objective was to compromise the prosecutor or enlist her as someone who would cooperate with Israelâs demands. A third source familiar with the operation said Cohen was acting as Netanyahuâs âunofficial messengerâ. Cohen, who was one of Netanyahuâs closest allies at the time and is emerging as a political force in his own right in Israel, personally led the Mossadâs involvement in an almost decade-long campaign by the country to undermine the court.
#yemen#jerusalem#tel aviv#current events#palestine#free palestine#gaza#free gaza#news on gaza#palestine news#news update#war news#war on gaza#icc#international criminal court#palestine genocide#genocide#gaza genocide
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Feel like this should be getting some more attention.
"Now, an investigation by the Guardian and the Israeli-based magazines +972 and Local Call can reveal how Israel has run an almost decade-long secret âwarâ against the court. The country deployed its intelligence agencies to surveil, hack, pressure, smear and allegedly threaten senior ICC staff in an effort to derail the courtâs inquiries. ...
It is this spectre of prosecutions in The Hague that one former Israeli intelligence official said had led the âentire military and political establishmentâ to regard the counteroffensive against the ICC âas a war that had to be waged, and one that Israel needed to be defended against. It was described in military terms.â
That âwarâ commenced in January 2015, when it was confirmed that Palestine would join the court after it was recognised as a state by the UN general assembly. Its accession was condemned by Israeli officials as a form of âdiplomatic terrorismâ. ...
On 16 January 2015, within weeks of Palestine joining, Bensouda opened a preliminary examination into what in the legalese of the court was called âthe situation in Palestineâ. The following month, two men who had managed to obtain the prosecutorâs private address turned up at her home in The Hague. ....
âIf Fatou Bensouda spoke to any person in the West Bank or Gaza, then that phone call would enter [intercept] systems,â one source said. Another said there was no hesitation internally over spying on the prosecutor, adding: âWith Bensouda, sheâs black and African, so who cares?â ....
after the ICC had opened a full investigation into the Palestine case, Gantz designated Al-Haq and five other Palestinian rights groups as âterrorist organisationsâ, a label that was rejected by multiple European states and later found by the CIA to be unsupported by evidence. The organisations said the designations were a âtargeted assaultâ against those most actively engaging with the ICC. ....
A core ICC principle, known as complementarity, prevents the prosecutor from investigating or trying individuals if they are the subject of credible state-level investigations or criminal proceedings.
Israeli surveillance operatives were asked to find out which specific incidents might form part of a future ICC prosecution, multiple sources said, in order to enable Israeli investigative bodies to âopen investigations retroactivelyâ in the same cases.
âIf materials were transferred to the ICC, we had to understand exactly what they were, to ensure that the IDF investigated them independently and sufficiently so that they could claim complementarity,â one source explained."
28 May 2024
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The former head of the Mossad, Israelâs foreign intelligence agency, allegedly threatened a chief prosecutor of the international criminal court in a series of secret meetings in which he tried to pressure her into abandoning a war crimes investigation, the Guardian can reveal. Yossi Cohenâs covert contacts with the ICCâs then prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, took place in the years leading up to her decision to open a formal investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in occupied Palestinian territories. That investigation, launched in 2021, culminated last week when Bensoudaâs successor, Karim Khan, announced that he was seeking an arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, over the countryâs conduct in its war in Gaza. The prosecutorâs decision to apply to the ICCâs pre-trial chamber for arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his defence minister, Yoav Gallant, alongside three Hamas leaders, is an outcome Israelâs military and political establishment has long feared.
[...]
Cohen, who was one of Netanyahuâs closest allies at the time and is emerging as a political force in his own right in Israel, personally led the Mossadâs involvement in an almost decade-long campaign by the country to undermine the court. Four sources confirmed that Bensouda had briefed a small group of senior ICC officials about Cohenâs attempts to sway her, amid concerns about the increasingly persistent and threatening nature of his behaviour. Three of those sources were familiar with Bensoudaâs formal disclosures to the ICC about the matter. They said she revealed Cohen had put pressure on her on several occasions not to proceed with a criminal investigation in the ICCâs Palestine case. According to accounts shared with ICC officials, he is alleged to have told her: âYou should help us and let us take care of you. You donât want to be getting into things that could compromise your security or that of your family.â One individual briefed on Cohenâs activities said he had used âdespicable tacticsâ against Bensouda as part of an ultimately unsuccessful effort to intimidate and influence her. They likened his behaviour to âstalkingâ. The Mossad also took a keen interest in Bensoudaâs family members and obtained transcripts of secret recordings of her husband, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the situation. Israeli officials then attempted to use the material to discredit the prosecutor. The revelations about Cohenâs operation form part of a forthcoming investigation by the Guardian, the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and the Hebrew-language outlet Local Call, revealing how multiple Israel intelligence agencies ran a covert âwarâ against the ICC for almost a decade.
28 May 2024
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Israeli newspaper Haaretz has published two eyebrow-raising pieces in a row that cast doubts on Israelâs democratic norms. On Wednesday, it published an opinion piece by Jonathan Pollak with chunks of text redacted, referencing a standing gag order preventing media from discussing âadministrative detentionâ â a system under which Israeli forces hold Palestinians indefinitely without charge or due process. The following day, it published a story detailing how, two years ago, the Israeli government prevented it from publishing an investigation using âemergency powersâ and threats. This story later became the subject of an explosive report by +972 Magazine and the Guardian, alleging intimidation efforts by its intelligence agency, Mossad, against an International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor.
[...]
Megiddo, who was the author of the earlier investigation, said that before he published that investigation, he received a call from a senior security official summoning him to his office. During his meeting with the official, he was told that if he published, he âwould suffer the consequences and get to know the interrogation rooms of the Israeli security authorities from the insideâ, he said.
The report by +972 and the Guardian, published on Tuesday, centred on allegations that then-Mossad head Yossi Cohen attempted to extort then-ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, to force her to drop an investigation of alleged war crimes committed by Israel in Palestine.
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THE HAGUE
Dutch lawmakers on Friday called for a probe into allegations of espionage and intimidation by Israel to obstruct International Criminal Court (ICC) investigations into Israeli officials.
A written question submitted by House of Representatives member Kati Piri urged ministers to investigate the alleged activities. Piri is a member of the Green Left-Labor Party alliance, led by former European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans.
A query, which received backing from other Green Left and Labor Party members, was directed at Foreign Minister Hanke Bruins Slot, Interior and Kingdom Relations Minister Hugo de Jonge and Justice and Security Minister Dilan Yesilgoz-Zegerius.
Citing international media reports, the motion requested that the three ministries, along with Dutch intelligence services, look into Israel's alleged espionage and intimidation efforts against the ICC.
The efforts are reportedly aimed at disrupting investigations into war crimes committed in Palestinian territories.
Special responsibility
The motion stressed that as the host state of the ICC, which is based in The Hague, the Netherlands has a duty to prevent any attacks or threats against the international court.
It questioned how Dutch authorities plan to ensure that ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan and Court judges can operate independently and without interference.
The motion also took note of an incident involving former ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, whose home in The Hague was searched by two individuals believed to be working for Israeli intelligence.
Bensouda had reported the incident to Dutch authorities.
Piri's motion also requested that the ministers disclose the number of complaints received from the ICC, Palestinian non-governmental organizations and individuals about intimidation, bribery, blackmail or espionage attempts by Israel or other countries since 2015.
Sabotage of ICC investigations
The motion asserted that Israel's alleged espionage activities are intended to sabotage the ICC's investigations into crimes committed by Israeli officials in Palestinian territories.
It raised concern about whether witnesses to the crimes might feel intimidated to testify before the ICC and questioned whether the Netherlands could adequately protect witnesses and victims.
The motion called on Dutch ministers to clarify their stance on the Israeli government's designation of six Palestinian human rights groups as "terrorist organizations" in October 2021.
It requested an assessment of the designations and of allegations against the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees, or UNRWA.
Furthermore, it demands an investigation into the possible involvement of Israel's diplomatic mission in The Hague in alleged intimidation activities against the ICC.
"Will you summon the Israeli ambassador to demand an explanation and convey the message that espionage and intimidation campaigns on Dutch soil are unacceptable?" it asked.
It called for an investigation into whether Israel has committed crimes aimed at obstructing the administration of justice, referring to Article 70 of the Rome Statute, the ICC's founding treaty, which regulates crimes against the administration of justice.
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"When the chief prosecutor of the international criminal court (ICC) announced he was seeking arrest warrants against Israeli and Hamas leaders, he issued a cryptic warning: âI insist that all attempts to impede, intimidate or improperly influence the officials of this court must cease immediately.â
...Now, an investigation by the Guardian and the Israeli-based magazines +972 and Local Call can reveal how Israel has run an almost decade-long secret âwarâ against the court. The country deployed its intelligence agencies to surveil, hack, pressure, smear and allegedly threaten senior ICC staff in an effort to derail the courtâs inquiries.
Israeli intelligence captured the communications of numerous ICC officials, including Khan and his predecessor as prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, intercepting phone calls, messages, emails and documents.
..
Since it was established in 2002, the ICC has served as a permanent court of last resort for the prosecution of individuals accused of some of the worldâs worst atrocities. It has charged the former Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, the late Libyan president Muammar Gaddafi and most recently, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
Khanâs decision to seek warrants against Netanyahu and his defence minister, Yoav Gallant, along with Hamas leaders implicated in the 7 October attack, marks the first time an ICC prosecutor has sought arrest warrants against the leader of a close western ally.
The allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity that Khan has levelled against Netanyahu and Gallant all relate to Israelâs eight-month war in Gaza, which according to the territoryâs health authority has killed more than 35,000 people.
...
Hacked emails and monitored calls
Five sources familiar with Israelâs intelligence activities said it routinely spied on the phone calls made by Bensouda and her staff with Palestinians. Blocked by Israel from accessing Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the ICC was forced to conduct much of its research by telephone, which made it more susceptible to surveillance.
Thanks to their comprehensive access to Palestinian telecoms infrastructure, the sources said, intelligence operatives could capture the calls without installing spyware on the ICC officialâs devices.
âIf Fatou Bensouda spoke to any person in the West Bank or Gaza, then that phone call would enter [intercept] systems,â one source said. Another said there was no hesitation internally over spying on the prosecutor, adding: âWith Bensouda, sheâs black and African, so who cares?â. ......
One of the sources said the Shin Bet even installed Pegasus spyware, developed by the private-sector NSO Group, on the phones of multiple Palestinian NGO employees, as well as two senior Palestinian Authority officials.
Keeping tabs on the Palestinian submissions to the ICCâs inquiry was viewed as part of the Shin Betâs mandate, but some army officials were concerned that spying on a foreign civilian entity crossed a line, as it had little to do with military operations.
âIt has nothing to do with Hamas, it has nothing to do with stability in the West Bank,â one military source said of the ICC surveillance. Another added: âWe used our resources to spy on Fatou Bensouda â this isnât something legitimate to do as military intelligence.â
...
Three sources briefed on Cohenâs activities said they understood the spy chief had tried to recruit Bensouda into complying with Israelâs demands during the period in which she was waiting for a ruling from the pre-trial chamber.
They said he became more threatening after he began to realise the prosecutor would not be persuaded to abandon the investigation. At one stage, Cohen is said to have made comments about Bensoudaâs security and thinly veiled threats about the consequences for her career if she proceeded.
#palestine#free palestine#gaza#isreal#genocide#apartheid#american imperialism#us politics#police state#war crimes#icc arrest warrant#icc prosecutor
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