#ICC

[arpans-posts]

If Orbans Hungary says that you are wrong, you are probably doing the right thing.

Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant were accused of “crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024”, a statement from the court said on Thursday.

There are “reasonable grounds” to believe that Gallant and Netanyahu “intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival, including food, water, and medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity”, it said.[...]

the ICC said on Thursday that it had unanimously decided to reject Israel’s appeal over the court’s jurisdiction.

21 Nov 24

[aqlstar]

The ICC is inherently biased here not just because Israel isn’t a signatory party, but because the UN itself is clearly responsible for allowing Hamas to hijack it’s agencies, and for failing to deliver aid to Palestinians.

The ICC relies on the UN heavily- they have a “cooperative and complementary relationship.”

The ICC passes legal blame to Gallant and Netanyahu in order to cover for the UN’s own failings.

@xclowniex

If they were interested in actually improving the situation for Palestinians, they would investigate where the UN aid orgs had gone wrong/why they can’t deliver aid, and then issue warrants for those people.

This would apply international pressure to the UN to work to address these issues.

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

[girlactionfigure]

German Officials have indicated that Germany will not arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, despite ICC Warrants issued for alleged War Crimes. While all EU Countries are obligated to enforce ICC Rulings, Germany’s historical ties to Israel and concerns about Antisemitism complicate the situation. Steffen Hebestreit, Spokesperson for Chancellor Olaf Scholz, stated, “I find it hard to imagine that Arrests could be carried out in Germany on this basis.”

[sayruq]

[soon-palestine]

“Target Israel and we will target you,” the senators tell Khan, adding that they will “sanction your employees and associates, and bar you and your families from the United States.”

Rather ominously, the letter concludes: “You have been warned.” In a statement to Zeteo, Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said, “It is fine to express opposition to a possible judicial action, but it is absolutely wrong to interfere in a judicial matter by threatening judicial officers, their family members and their employees with retribution. This thuggery is something befitting the mafia, not U.S. senators.”

While neither Israel nor the United States are members of the ICC, the Palestinian territories were admitted with the status of a member state in April 2015. Khan, a British lawyer, was appointed as the ICC’s chief prosecutor in February 2021, a week after the court had already decided, by majority, that its territorial jurisdiction extended to “Gaza and the West Bank.”

In the wake of the attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, Khan announced that the court had jurisdiction over any potential war crimes committed both by Hamas militants in Israel and by Israeli forces in Gaza. The ICC, per the Rome Statute of 2002, can charge individuals with war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide – and recent reports suggest Israeli officials increasingly believe that the ICC is preparing arrest warrants for Netanyahu and other senior cabinet and military officials.

On Friday, The Hague-based office of the chief prosecutor published an unprecedented statement on Twitter, calling for an end to threats of retaliation against the ICC and attempts to “impede” and “intimidate” its officials. The statement added that such threats could “constitute an offence against the administration of justice” under the Rome Statute. 

[agentfascinateur]

A reminder about Palestine:

Firstly, the existence of the country of Palestine was never in question. And secondly, as per the UK's own words in the oft-referred to "foundational" "Balfour Declaration":

"NOTHING SHALL BE DONE WHICH MAY PREJUDICE THE CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS RIGHTS OF EXISTING NON-JEWISH COMMUNITIES IN PALESTINE."

Plain as day.

[mirkobloom77]

‼️🇵🇸🌍 A compilation of positive reactions to the ICC move: Countries and Human Rights groups

[Plain text: A compilation of positive reactions to the ICC move: Countries and Human Rights groups]

🔹 Small summary:

🇳🇴 Norway is the first European Country to say that, if an arrest warrant is issued, Netanyahu will be arrested.

🇿🇦 The South African president says “the law must be applied equally to all in order to uphold the international rule of law, ensure accountability for those that commit heinous crimes and protect the rights of victims”

🇨🇳 China’s foreign ministry calls for an end to the "collective punishment of the Palestinian people", hoping ICC “will uphold its objective and impartial position and exercise its powers in accordance with the law”

🇫🇷 France’s foreign ministry says country “supports the International Criminal Court, its independence, and the fight against impunity in all situations”

🇧🇪 Belgium’s foreign ministry says “Crimes committed in Gaza must be prosecuted at the highest level, regardless of the perpetrators”

🇸🇮 Slovenia’s foreign ministry says “"Accountability is crucial to prevent atrocities and to guarantee peace”

🇨🇭 Switzerland’s permanent representative of Switzerland to the UN says Switzerland “fully supports the court and stresses the importance of respecting its independence”

🇵🇸 Palestinian Rights Groups welcome “landmark” ICC decision, call for an additional charge of Genocide to be added

🇮🇱 B’Tselem, an Israeli humans rights groups, says “Era of impunity for Israel’s leaders is over”

🔸 Source: Al Jazeera

[heritageposts]

On the basis of evidence collected and examined by my Office, I have reasonable grounds to believe that Benjamin NETANYAHU, the Prime Minister of Israel, and Yoav GALLANT, the Minister of Defence of Israel, bear criminal responsibility for the following war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on the territory of the State of Palestine (in the Gaza strip) from at least 8 October 2023:

Starvation of civilians as a method of warfare as a war crime contrary to article 8(2)(b)(xxv) of the Statute;

Wilfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or health contrary to article 8(2)(a)(iii), or cruel treatment as a war crime contrary to article 8(2)(c)(i);

Wilful killing contrary to article 8(2)(a)(i), or Murder as a war crime contrary to article 8(2)(c)(i);

Intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population as a war crime contrary to articles 8(2)(b)(i), or 8(2)(e)(i);

Extermination and/or murder contrary to articles 7(1)(b) and 7(1)(a), including in the context of deaths caused by starvation, as a crime against humanity;

Persecution as a crime against humanity contrary to article 7(1)(h);

Other inhumane acts as crimes against humanity contrary to article 7(1)(k).

[mysharona1987]

This headline was from well over a year ago.

[troythecatfish]

Germany becomes the second state, after the UK, to attempt to stop the ICC from issuing arrest warrants against Israeli leaders

The move is likely to delay the issuance of arrest warrants to Israeli leaders and comes as reports emerge that a decision will be made soon.

Britain, like Germany attempted to argue, based upon a technicality, that the request of the International Criminal Court (ICC)'s Prosecutor, Karim Khan, be declined and there not be arrest warrants issued for Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

This is important as neither nation attempted to argue that Israeli leaders had not committed war crimes, but instead chose other methods of attempting to get their Israeli allies off the hook.

Source: Mintpress

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

[dontforgetukraine]

Mongolian activists in Ulaanbaatar have taken to the streets to express their support for Ukraine Putin arrived in the country, with the country refusing to arrest him despite being subject to the ICC’s Rome Statute

[sayruq]

[reasonsforhope]

An illegal toxic dump site in Croatia, the theft of water from a major aquifer in southern Spain, illegal trading of ozone-depleting refrigerants in France: This is just a sampling of the environmental crimes that European countries are struggling to stop. The lack of accountability for these acts stems in part from the European Union’s legal code, which experts say is riddled with vague definitions and gaps in enforcement. That’s about to change. 

Last week, EU lawmakers voted in a new directive that criminalizes cases of environmental damage “comparable to ecocide,” a term broadly defined as the severe, widespread, and long-term destruction of the natural world. Advocates called the move “revolutionary,” both because it sets strict penalties for violators, including up to a decade in jail, and because it marks the first time that an international body has created a legal pathway for the prosecution of ecocide.

“This decision marks the end of impunity for environmental criminals and could usher in a new age of environmental litigation in Europe,” wrote Marie Toussaint, a French lawyer and EU parliamentarian for the Greens/European Free Alliance group, on X...

The new directive uses the term “ecocide” in its preamble, but does not criminalize the act by laying out a legal definition (the most widely accepted definition of ecocide was developed by an international panel of experts in 2021). Instead, it works by providing a list of “qualified offenses,” or crimes that fall within its purview. These include pollution from ships, the introduction of invasive species, and ozone depletion...

The new law holds people liable for environmental destruction if they acted with knowledge of the damage their actions would cause. This aspect of the law is important, experts said, because it means that a permit is no longer enough for a company to avoid culpability.  

“If new information shows that behavior is causing irreversible damage to health and nature – you will have to stop,” a member of the European Parliament from the Netherlands, Antonius Manders, told Euronews. 

Advocates like Mehta hope that the EU’s move will have influence beyond Europe’s borders. The principal goal of the Stop Ecocide campaign is for the International Criminal Court to designate ecocide as the fifth international crime that it prosecutes, after crimes against humanity, war crimes, crimes of aggression, and genocide. At the moment, environmental destruction can only be prosecuted as a war crime at the ICC, and limitations in the law make this extremely difficult to do...

Kate Mackintosh, the executive director of the Netherlands-based UCLA Law Promise Institute Europe, told Grist that the ICC is unlikely to adopt an ecocide law if other countries do not do so first. 

“It’s not something you can just pull out of thin air,” she said, adding that any international legal doctrine has to have a precedent on the national level. “That’s the way states are going to accept it.”

The EU’s 27 member states will have two years to adapt the new legislation into their penal codes. Afterwards, their implementation must be reviewed and updated at least once every five years using a “risk-analysis based approach,” to account for advancements in experts’ understanding of what might constitute an environmental crime. Mehta said that despite its omission of some important offenses, the law sets an important example for other countries. Several days before the EU vote, Belgium adapted its criminal code to include the directive, making it the first country in Europe to recognize ecocide as a crime.

The ruling “shows leadership and compassion,” Mehta said. “It will establish a clear moral as well as legal ‘red line’, creating an essential steer for European industry leaders and policy-makers going forward.”

-via Grist, March 6, 2024

[agentfascinateur]

Israel violating 1979 Peace Accord and slanders now Egypt

The corridor is part of a larger demilitarized zone along the entire Israel-Egypt border. Under the peace accord, each side is allowed to deploy only a small number of troops or border guards in the zone, though those numbers can be modified by mutual agreement. At the time of the accord, Israeli troops controlled Gaza, until Israel withdrew its forces and settlers in 2005.

Tunnels! Like the non-existing ones of Al Shifa Hospital where instead very real mass graves were found once Israeli forces evacuated...