(October 29, 2024)
Delays in the Palestine investigation trace back to 2015 when former ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda initiated a preliminary examination. Although the investigation met the necessary criteria in 2019, it was postponed due to jurisdiction debates over Palestinian territories. The formal investigation began in March 2021, yet no meaningful progress has been made, further delaying requests against Netanyahu and Gallant.
(May 28, 2024)
Thanks to their comprehensive access to Palestinian telecoms infrastructure, the sources said, intelligence operatives could capture the calls without installing spyware on the ICC official’s devices.
“If Fatou Bensouda spoke to any person in the West Bank or Gaza, then that phone call would enter [intercept] systems,” one source said. Another said there was no hesitation internally over spying on the prosecutor, adding: “With Bensouda, she’s black and African, so who cares?”
The surveillance system did not capture calls between ICC officials and anyone outside Palestine. However, multiple sources said the system required the active selection of the overseas phone numbers of ICC officials whose calls Israeli intelligence agencies decided to listen to.
According to one Israeli source, a large whiteboard in an Israeli intelligence department contained the names of about 60 people under surveillance – half of them Palestinians and half from other countries, including UN officials and ICC personnel.
In The Hague, Bensouda and her senior staff were alerted by security advisers and via diplomatic channels that Israel was monitoring their work.
(May 28, 2024)
Die Haftbefehle für Benjamin Netanyahu und Yoav Gallant, die der internationale Strafgerichtshof (IStGH) letzte Woche ausgeschrieben hatte, beziehen sich zwar auf Verbrechen, die die israelische Führung während des neuen Gaza-Krieges begangen haben soll, die Untersuchungen begannen aber bereits 2015.
Damals eröffnete die damalige Chefanklägerin des Internationalen Strafgerichtshofs, Fatou Bensouda, die Überprüfung von Vorwürfen gegen Einzelpersonen im Gazastreifen, im Westjordanland und in Ostjerusalem.
(May 28, 2024)
The former head of the Mossad, Israel’s 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 Cohen’s covert contacts with the ICC’s 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 Bensouda’s successor, Karim Khan, announced that he was seeking an arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, over the country’s conduct in its war in Gaza.
(…)
After the surprise meeting with Kabila and Bensouda in New York, Cohen repeatedly phoned the chief prosecutor and sought meetings with her, three sources recalled. According to two people familiar with the situation, at one stage Bensouda asked Cohen how he had obtained her phone number, to which he replied: “Did you forget what I do for a living?”
The International Criminal Court (ICC) faces an unprecedented moment in its history, one that could shape its legacy and impact the lives of thousands.
Prosecutor Karim Khan and his team have risen to their mandate, applying for arrest warrants in the face of enormous risk and pressure.
Yet, the ICC as a whole is faltering. The delay in the judges‘ decision-making is a catastrophic failure to uphold the court‘s own mission.
In May, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan requested the court to issue warrants of arrest for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, along with three Hamas leaders. The ICC is yet to make a decision despite the mounting death toll in and destruction of Gaza amid Israel’s continuing genocidal violence.
(…)
If Bensouda was threatened and blackmailed for merely investigating allegations of war crimes perpetrated before the current genocidal war, one can only fathom the pressures and threats, real or assumed, that Khan faced or feared.
Now that he has done his duty, it is for the three sitting judges of the pre-trial chamber to decide whether to issue the warrants or not. Whether they face the same threats as Bensouda is unknown, but they must be acutely aware that the very credibility of the ICC also hangs in the balance if warrants of arrest for Netanyahu and Gallant are not issued without further delay.
NEW YORK, September 23, 2024 (WAFA) – President Mahmoud Abbas met on Monday with the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Karim Khan, on the sidelines of his participation in the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, in New York.
(September 5, 2024)
“You cannot allow an attack on the court,” Khan said. “Then you have no rules-based system.”*
https://aje.io/7u2xai?update=3158140
* Which is exactly what Russia Israel & US want; hence the „Hague Invasion Act“
#US #Russia #Israel #ICC ..
(20 May 2024)
On the basis of evidence collected and examined by my Office, I have reasonable grounds to believe that Yahya SINWAR (Head of the Islamic Resistance Movement (“Hamas”) in the Gaza Strip), Mohammed Diab Ibrahim AL-MASRI, more commonly known as DEIF (Commander-in-Chief of the military wing of Hamas, known as the Al-Qassam Brigades), and Ismail HANIYEH (Head of Hamas Political Bureau) bear criminal responsibility for the following war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on the territory of Israel and the State of Palestine (in the Gaza strip) from at least 7 October 2023:
(…)
“You cannot allow an attack on the court,” Khan said. “Then you have no rules-based system.”*
https://aje.io/7u2xai?update=3158140
* Which is exactly what Russia Israel & US want; hence the „Hague Invasion Act“
#US #Russia #Israel #ICC ..
Though several months have passed since Khan‘s application, ICC judges have not issued any arrest warrants.
Speaking to the BBC, Khan said it was important to show the court would hold all nations to the same standard in relation to alleged war crimes. He also welcomed the new UK government‘s recent decision to drop its opposition to the arrest warrants.
Khan pointed out that the same political leaders who had applauded the court’s decision to issue an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin had condemned the same being done for the Israeli leadership.
“We need to apply the law in a way that is equal, because if we don’t, and importantly if we’re not seen to, we’re going to lose all the architecture, not just the ICC, that has been built on human suffering since Nuremberg.”
Der Chefankläger des Internationalen Strafgerichtshofs (IStGH) hat die beantragten Haftbefehle gegen Israels Regierungschef Benjamin Netanjahu und Verteidigungsminister Joav Galant verteidigt. Ihm sei von mehreren führenden Politikern und anderen von dem Schritt abgeraten worden, sagte Karim Khan in einem BBC-Interview. Es sei aber wichtig zu zeigen, dass für alle Länder die gleichen Maßstäbe gälten, wenn es um mutmaßliche Kriegsverbrechen gehe.
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is calling on President Biden to utilize the U.S.‘s influence on the world stage to block the International Criminal Court‘s (ICC) reported plan to issue arrest warrants for top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Israeli officials did not disclose the nature of the information that led them to be concerned about potential I.C.C. action, and the court did not comment on the matter.
Arrest warrants from the court would probably be seen in much of the world as a humbling moral rebuke, particularly to Israel, which for months has faced international backlash over its conduct in Gaza, including from President Biden, who called it “over the top.”
Warrants could be issued this week against Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and army chief Herzl Halevi. Some legal experts say the attorney general and army lawyers are partly to blame for not doing enough to prevent Israeli violations of international law
This is being taken forward as a matter of the utmost urgency, with a view to bringing to justice those responsible for Rome Statute crimes.
All wars have rules and the laws applicable to armed conflict cannot be interpreted so as to render them hollow or devoid of meaning. This has been my consistent message, including from Ramallah last year. Since that time, I have not seen any discernible change in conduct by Israel. As I have repeatedly emphasised, those who do not comply with the law should not complain later when my Office takes action pursuant to its mandate.
To all those involved: my Office is actively investigating any crimes allegedly committed. Those who are in breach of the law will be held accountable.
I also continue to call for the immediate release of all hostages. This also represents an important focus of our investigations.
On 22 February 2023, I submitted applications to Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court for warrants of arrest in the context of the Situation in Ukraine.
Today, the Pre-Trial Chamber has issued arrest warrants in relation to the following two individuals:
Mr Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation; and
Ms Maria Lvova-Belova, Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Office of the President of the Russian Federation.
On the basis of evidence collected and analysed by my Office pursuant to its independent investigations, the Pre-Trial Chamber has confirmed that there are reasonable grounds to believe that President Putin and Ms Lvova-Belova bear criminal responsibility for the unlawful deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation, contrary to article 8(2)(a)(vii) and article 8(2)(b)(viii) of the Rome Statute.
My Office has responded immediately to this unprecedented collective call for action by States Parties. The investigative team that I deployed to the region last week has already commenced evidence-collection activities. I am also personally seeking to engage with all relevant stakeholders and parties to the conflict with the aim of strengthening channels for the collection of relevant information and engendering coordinated action towards our common goal of ensuring accountability for crimes falling within ICC jurisdiction.
International criminal investigations require the engagement of all those who may hold information relevant to our work. Witnesses, survivors and affected communities in particular must be empowered to actively contribute to our investigations. There can be no bystanders in our effort to establish the truth and pursue those allegedly responsible for international crimes.
I can therefore announce today that my Office has established a dedicated portal through which any person that may hold information relevant to the Ukraine situation can contact our investigators. I encourage all those with relevant information to come forward and contact our Team through this platform, which can be accessed here.
Ukraine is not a State Party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court („ICC“ or the „Court“), so cannot itself refer the situation to my Office. But it has twice exercised its prerogatives to legally accept the Court‘s jurisdiction over alleged crimes under the Rome Statute occurring on its territory, should the Court choose to exercise it. The first declaration lodged by the Government of Ukraine accepted ICC jurisdiction with respect to alleged crimes committed on Ukrainian territory from 21 November 2013 to 22 February 2014. The second declaration extended this time period on an open-ended basis to encompass ongoing alleged crimes committed throughout the territory of Ukraine from 20 February 2014 onwards.
I have reviewed the Office‘s conclusions arising from the preliminary examination of the Situation in Ukraine, and have confirmed that there is a reasonable basis to proceed with opening an investigation.
Today, 16 June 2021, Mr Karim Asad Ahmad Khan QC gave his solemn undertaking and formally took office as the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court („ICC“ or the „Court“) during a ceremony held at the Seat of the Court in The Hague, The Netherlands. Mr Khan, a national of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, was elected as ICC Prosecutor on 12 February 2021, for a nine-year term, at the second resumed nineteenth session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute („ASP“) in New York
(today)
Bensouda announced on March 3 that she had opened a full investigation into actions committed by Israel and the Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza, and east Jerusalem since 2014.
US-Außenminister Antony Blinken teilte in Washington mit, Biden habe eine entsprechende Verfügung seines Amtsvorgängers Donald Trump rückgängig gemacht. Dadurch seien auch die von der Trump-Regierung verhängten Strafmaßnahmen gegen die Chefanklägerin des Gerichts, Fatou Bensouda, sowie ICC-Abteilungsleiter Phakiso Mochochoko, aufgehoben. Visarestriktionen für Mitarbeiter des Gerichtshofes seien ebenfalls gestrichen worden.
The move comes nearly one month after ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced the decision to open a formal investigation into war crimes in the Palestinian Territories, which will examine both sides in the conflict
Election Overdose podcast, episode 12, five days to go: Did Bibi‘s handling of COVID-19 help or harm his electoral prospects ■ How the center-left opposition failed so miserably ■ Plus: Polls galore and last-minute surprises
(02.09.2014)
Israel and Gaza‘s ruling Hamas agreed to an open-ended ceasefire on August 26 after seven weeks of fighting – an uneasy deal that halted the Protective Edge operation, with more than 2,200 killed.
(03.08.2014)
The IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) began their current operation against Hamas after three teens were kidnapped and killed. The military op has already claimed over 1,500 civilian lives in Gaza.
(03.03.2021)
Today, I confirm the initiation by the Office of the Prosecutor (“Office“) of the International Criminal Court (“ICC“ or the “Court“) of an investigation respecting the Situation in Palestine. The investigation will cover 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 my Office.
Der Wechsel als Chefankläger erfolgt in einer kritischen Zeit für das Gericht. Es steht unter großem politischen Druck wegen geplanter Ermittlungsverfahren zu Kriegsverbrechen in Palästina und in Afghanistan. Dadurch wären auch Prozesse gegen Militärs aus Israel oder den USA möglich.
On this basis, the majority, composed of Judge Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini-Gansou and Judge Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, found that the Court‘s territorial jurisdiction in the Situation in Palestine extends to the territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
(…)
Judge Péter Kovács, Presiding Judge, appended a partly dissenting opinion, in which he disagrees on the fact that Palestine qualifies as ‚[t]he State on the territory of which the conduct in question occurred‘ for the purposes of article 12(2)(a) of the Statute, and that the Court‘s territorial jurisdiction in the Situation in Palestine extends – in a quasi-automatic manner and without any restrictions – to the territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
The judges – Presiding Judge Peter Kovacs of Hungary, Judge Marc Perrin de Brichambaut of France and Judge Reine Alapini-Gansou of Benin – accepted the findings of Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda’s preliminary investigation from December of 2019 that there is a basis for investigating the matter further, and ruled that the court does have jurisdiction in the Palestinian territories, rejecting Israel‘s argument that it lacks such authority.
Am Mittwoch nun hat US-Aussenminister Mike Pompeo zudem eine Drohung wahr gemacht und Fatou Bensouda sowie einen hochrangigen Mitarbeiter auf die Sanktionsliste gesetzt. Das heisst, sie werden gleichgesetzt mit Terroristen, ihr Vermögen in den USA kann eingefroren werden. Solche Sanktionen hatte zuletzt auch Israels Regierung gefordert, die verärgert ist über – allerdings nur sehr verhaltene – Ermittlungen wegen möglicher Kriegsverbrechen in Gaza.
The new measures, announced pursuant to the US Executive Order 13928 dated 11 June 2020, are another attempt to interfere with the Court‘s judicial and prosecutorial independence and crucial work to address grave crimes of concern to the international community as mandated under the ICC Rome Statute.
These coercive acts, directed at an international judicial institution and its civil servants, are unprecedented and constitute serious attacks against the Court, the Rome Statute system of international criminal justice, and the rule of law more generally.
The Court continues to stand firmly by its personnel and its mission of fighting impunity for the world‘s most serious crimes under international law, independently and impartially, in accordance with its mandate. In doing so, the Court benefits from the strong support and commitment of two thirds of the world‘s States which are parties to the Rome Statute.
The European Union is unwavering in its support for the universality of the Rome Statute and for the ICC. We will resolutely defend it from any attempts aimed at obstructing the course of justice and undermining the international system of criminal justice.
Pompeo also said Phakiso Mochochoko, the head of the ICC’s Jurisdiction, Complementarity and Cooperation Division, had also been blacklisted under sanctions authorized by President Donald Trump in June that allow for asset freezes and travel bans.
“Today we take the next step, because the ICC continues to target Americans, sadly,” Pompeo told reporters.
The US has imposed sanctions on the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court just weeks after she allowed a complaint of Israeli “war crimes” to proceed.
Announcing sanctions against the ICC’s Fatou Bensouda, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the court “continues to target Americans”, in apparent reference to investigations into US Army actions in Afghanistan.
This was sparked by a 2015 declaration by the Palestian government to give jurisdiction to the intergovernmental institution „over alleged crimes committed in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, since June 13, 2014.“
In December, ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced that she had found a basis for an investigation against Israel and Hamas over suspicions that war crimes were committed in the Palestinian Territories in the period beginning in 2014. But she asked that the court issue a pre-trial ruling first on its jurisdiction in cases involving the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza.
The decision, announced on Thursday by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, defence secretary, Mark Esper and attorney general, William Barr, targets ICC officials investigating war crimes allegedly committed in Afghanistan by all sides, including the US, and will also see visa restrictions imposed on their families.