#ICC news

[thehansindiaseo]

Jay Shah Elected Unopposed as Independent Chair of ICC

Jay Shah elected unopposed as the ICC Independent Chair, marking a significant leadership change in international cricket's governing body.

[sayruq]

[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

[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

[mysharona1987]

um, this isn’t the great defense he thinks it is.

[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

[politijohn]

Source

[sonicasura]

You know what's annoying about the whole Gaza Genocide situation? The fucking pandering of the ICJ, ICC and the countries that honestly support Palestine. Entire Zionist occupation has been breaking international law constantly throughout this entire tragedy with no backlash.

USA and UK recently fucking bombed a section of Yemen with the Trump trial as cover. Israel continuously ignored rulings from ICJ to stop their bullshit. Even moreso when Hamas have actually been civil to ceasefire proposals and is willing to go to trial if arrest warrants for them were made.

Israel's government has proven to not be trustworthy with every single throwing a tantrum whenever something doesn't go their way. NO MORE. I say it's time for either UN peacekeepers or another country to go into Palestine and drag their asses OUT.

Netanhyu doesn't want any Israeli hostages to come back alive. From the message of Alexander Trufanov, one such hostage, they want to bring back corpses as it is much cheaper option. Proof further confirmed when a recent report showed an IDF soldier killing another before they could get captured by a Resistance Fighter or the recovered few soldiers in Jabaliya area.

The Israeli Government doesn't care about anyone out in Palestine coming back alive. Joe Biden wants to profit off the genocide, Jill Biden doesn't care either just in case anyone wants to bring up a potential divorce. We don't need bloody pandering with proposals and discussions when it comes to international law anymore.

Palestine alongside everyone else suffering from this genocide deserves direct action to be done. Israel, America and their allies have destroyed more war standards than fucking HITLER. Drag the IDF out of Palestine entirely. Slap on those arrest warrants. Then we can actually get the hostages from both sides back home as the Zionist regime responsible are tried for their crimes.

One massive step for Palestine will be a giant leap for the world. To do this means no one is above international law and the corruption deep in every government can finally begin to be rooted out. Should another genocide occur after this then justice shouldn't be allowed to pander again.

GET MOVING ICJ AND ICC.

For anyone in the United States, on June 8th, there's a protest to surround the White House for the Rafah Massacre. Netanhyu is visiting Congress so be on guard about more spontaneous law passing. Also please be careful as police brutality is guaranteed and who knows what they will dish out to remove Pro-Palestine protestors off grounds.

[decolonize-the-everything]

Article from March 2021

source on reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Kamala Harris, in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, reaffirmed U.S. opposition to an International Criminal Court probe of possible war crimes in the Palestinian Territories, the White House said. The call, the first between the two since Harris and President Joe Biden took office in January, came a day after the ICC prosecutor said she would launch the probe, prompting swift rejections by Washington and Jerusalem.

Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, who will be replaced by British prosecutor Karim Khan on June 16, said in December 2019 that war crimes had been or were being committed in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. She named both the Israel Defense Forces and armed Palestinian groups such as Hamas as possible perpetrators.

Harris and Netanyahu noted their governments’ "opposition to the International Criminal Court’s attempts to exercise its jurisdiction over Israeli personnel," the White House said.

The two agreed to continue to cooperate on regional security issues, specifically Iran’s nuclear program and "dangerous" behavior, the White House statement said. Harris "emphasized the United States’ unwavering commitment to Israel’s security," the statement added.

Article from Feb 2024

"Speaking at this year's Munich Security Conference in Germany, Harris noted Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine and increased instability and conflict in the Middle East.

[...]

"In these unsettled times, it is clear America cannot retreat," Harris said. "America must stand strong for democracy. We must stand in defense of international rules and norms. And we must stand with our allies." Harris said her address came amid questions about the future of America's role as a global leader. "These are questions that the American people must also ask ourselves: whether it is in America's interest to fight for democracy or to accept the rise of dictators and whether it is in America's interest to continue to work lockstep with our allies and partners or go it alone," she said.

Article from July 25, 2024, after the ICJ ruling on Palestine and after ICC applications for Netanyahu's arrest as a war criminal were posted

Vice President Kamala Harris today met with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel at the White House. The Vice President reiterated her longstanding and unwavering commitment to the security of the State of Israel and the people of Israel. They discussed the Biden-Harris Administration’s work to ensure Israel can defend itself from threats from Iran and Iranian-backed terrorist groups, including Hamas, Lebanese Hezbollah, and the Houthis, and the importance of combatting the rise in Antisemitism globally. The Vice President again condemned Hamas as a brutal terrorist organization as well as individuals associating with Hamas, noting that pro-Hamas graffiti and rhetoric is abhorrent and must not be tolerated.

Article from July 25, 2024

Vice President Kamala Harris slammed instances of “despicable acts” and “dangerous hate-fueled rhetoric” after Wednesday’s demonstration in D.C., in which thousands converged to protest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit and the ongoing war in Gaza. Throngs of demonstrators descended on the capital’s Union Station as Netanyahu addressed Congress, calling for an end to the war that Gaza health authorities say has killed more than 40,000 people

You are not pushing her left. Nobody is.

This February she was at the Munich Security Conference in Germany giving war criminals a morale boost.

After protests even after people had self immolated; although Aaron Bushnell hadn't by that event yet.

But the fact that it happened just a short 2 weeks later and she still supports Israel today? The fact she's reaffirming her support as she runs for president and wants us to give her the power to enable a certified war criminal?

Nobody is pushing her left. People died! They're still dying! Theyre setting themselves on fire, and she doesn't care.

All the hope in the world won't make that untrue.

No amount of peaceful protests or voting blue has saved anyone and Kamala will not be the exception. She's perfectly content with genocide and war crimes despite all her pretending to care about marginalized people and our oppression.

[allthegeopolitics]

The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation Tuesday (Jun 4) that would sanction the International Criminal Court for requesting arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. The 247-155 vote amounts to Congress' first legislative rebuke of the war crimes court since its top prosecutor made a stunning decision last month to seek arrest warrants for the leaders of Israel and Hamas. The move was widely denounced in Washington, creating a rare moment of unity on Israel even as partisan divisions over the war with Hamas intensified. While the House bill was expected to pass Tuesday, it managed to attract only modest Democratic support, despite an outpouring of outrage at the court's decision, dulling its chances in the Senate.

Continue Reading

[nando161mando]

Genocide Joe continues to arm Israel in spite of the ICC verdict

[sayruq]

[matan4il]

Hello! What kind of power does the recent ICC statement hold, and what kind of precedent will the arrest of Netanyahu and other several high ranking members of the Israeli government set? I'm genuinely frightened, as I can't imagine that the consequences will be anything but utterly disastrous

Hi Nonnie!

Honestly, I've read and heard so much about this topic, I will do my best to convey what I've been exposed to and processed, but keep in mind that I am not a legal expert.

First, I just wanna point out that for the time being, the ICC's chief prosecutor Karim Khan has only asked for arrest warrants against Hamas' leaders and Israeli ones. They've not been granted yet.

Second, a short explanation on the difference between the UN's two international courts.

The ICJ (International Court of Justice) is where states can be "judged" and "be sentenced," with some judicial outcomes having more real life consequences than others. This is upheld through conventions these states are signed on to (apparently, this is somewhat problematic, because it means the judges are not necessarily using established laws, rather they go by loose and open to interpretation statements that exist in the conventions), while the ICC (International Criminal Court) can only be used to prosecute individuals, not states, for their own crimes that they personally committed or oversaw.

The ICC's record in actually bringing major human rights violators to justice is... rather poor. It's not very good at getting these leaders extradited, so the court can put them on trial (because it's really easy to not travel at all to avoid extradition, especially for a wealthy tyrant who got rich from their war crimes, or to only travel to countries the criminal has reason to believe won't extradite him... shall we talk again about South Africa not extraditing Omar al-Bashir when he was on its soil, despite being responsible for countless murders in his country of Sudan?) and then, even on the rare occasion when they do get a leader extradited and put on trial... more than one ended up being exonerated by the court. Most people prosecuted there are NOT brought to justice.

In the case of Israel, it is NOT a party to the Rome Statute, which established the ICC. It initially wanted to join, but then had reason to believe the ICC might end up being used to wage political warfare instead of justice. I think seeing this proves Israel was right. BTW, the US ended up not being a party for the same reason. The ICC can only investigate and prosecute for 1 of 4 possible crimes (genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes against peace. This means if you want to prosecute someone at the ICC, you HAVE to accuse them of one of these crimes, giving people motivation to make false accusations if need be), and only if that person's own country is "unwilling" or "unable" to do so.

That means Israel has several reasons to point out that the ICC's chief prosecutor is abusing his power: Israel not being a party to the Rome Statute means he has no jurisdiction over us (which means Israelis prosecuted will not even "get to" appear in court and plead their case, because as subjects of Israeli law, they can't recognize the court), it has not yet been established beyond doubt that any of the aforementioned crimes has actually been committed (how do you prosecute someone for a murder that might not have been a murder?) and lastly, Israel as a democratic country has an independent judicial system, which is both willing and able to investigate and put on trial its leaders (this is demonstrated by the fact that several of our past leaders have been put on trial, some even found guilty and imprisoned, and that our current prime minister, one of the two Israeli men the ICC is targeting, was and still is on trial in Israel, and is under threat of imprisonment).

On top of that, there's of course a few more signs that point to the prosecutor's behavior not being "kosher." For one thing, there's the fact that by requesting arrest warrants against Hamas' Sinwar and Israel's Bibi and Gallant, Khan created a moral equivalence between Hamas, the antisemitic, genocidal terrorist organization, which we KNOW carried out on Oct 7 (as well as before and since) war crimes, crimes against peace and crimes against humanity, and the elected leaders of a democratic state, waging a defensive war started by said genocidal terrorist organization. There's also the fact that Khan was supposed to come to Israel for the stated purpose of collecting evidence, but he canceled the trip, and made this move instead. What is he basing his request on, if he hasn't completed the measures that he himself thought were necessary to have a proper idea of what's happening here? This is also a precedent, because this is the first time ever when a democratic state's leaders are prosecuted by the ICC, something that as an idea shouldn't happen at all, since democratic countries have judicial systems willing and able to prosecute their leaders.

Now as an idea, if the ICC prosecutes individual Israeli leaders, not states, that shouldn't have an influence on Israel as a country. In reality, it does.

Because the prosecutor's move creates this false moral equivalence between Hamas' leaders, men responsible for insane death tolls for both Israelis and Palestinians for decades through their violent, extremist, genocidal antisemitic ideology and corresponding actions, and Israel's leaders, who are waging a defensive war, in which Israel is providing the enemy controlled territory with water, electricity, humanitarian aid, does its best to differentiate between civilians and terrorists, and even has a legal team to make sure all orders and struck military targets comply with International Humanitarian Law. This moral equivalence plays into every anti-Israel lie and dehumanizing propaganda, and enables the antisemitic wave we've been seeing around the world, so this is def gonna affect Israel for the worse, not to mention Jewish communities everywhere.

But it will also have consequences for Israel as it's painted as more and more of a pariah. "Why did you overstep your own jurisdiction and prosecute a democratic country's leaders?" will get twisted around to "this is proof that Israel is not a democracy and is committing war crimes!" which will make many wanna stay away from us, even though they'd be wrong. If Israel does become more and more shunned on the international stage, not because of actual crimes, but due to public perception, then this can hurt its financial, commercial, scientific and cultural ties. Basically, anything that requires international collaboration can be hurt, and the people who will pay the price will be the regular people in Israel. Ironically, this might also come back to bite the regular Palestinians in the ass. The Palestinians have never done anything (not under Hamas and not under the Palestinian Authority) to develop their own financial system, independent from Israel, so when Israelis will suffer financially, so will the Palestinians. The regular ones, the Hamas leaders and terrorists will continue to enjoy the donated money and stolen humanitarian and financial aid.

Lastly, the ICJ in its case against Israel (submitted by the same South Africa which has failed to extradite al-Bashir, and which enables its own political party guilty of genocidal chants) might be able to now quote Khan's request as "support" that Israel is committing a genocide. Just notice the possible loop between these two courts. The ICJ will take years to decide on this case, but in the meantime, can decide on provisional measures, which will punish Israel as if it has already been found guilty. The ICC, as an idea, is supposed to rely on the ICJ's findings and not prosecute anyone on a crime that hasn't yet been determined to have happened. But by requesting these warrants anyway, the ICJ can rely on the ICC to justify even further provisional measures against Israel.

This is a mockery of justice, a political weaponization of courts against a democratic state whose greatest crime is being misjudged based on the same ignorance and hatred that in the past have led to the type of genocide (against Jews) that these courts are meant to help prevent.

(for the record, several states have condemned the prosecutor for its moral equivalence of Israel and Hamas, but they also seem to understand that this blatant violation of some core principles regarding how the ICC is supposed to operate means that one day, that court can be used against others, too)

Footnote: Khan has never prosecuted anyone for crimes committed in other human-created disaster areas, including Bangladesh, Myanmar, the Philippines, Afghanistan and Venezuela, despite investigations there, and to the best of my knowledge has never ordered investigations into other areas where HUNDREDS of thousands have been murdered, such as Yemen and Syria, or regime leaders whose states sponsor global terrorism, like Iran.

Yeah, one day people are going to look back on this and try to figure out how the ICC and ICJ went so terribly wrong.

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

[troythecatfish]

In a striking reversal, ICC prosecutor Karim Khan announced arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, charging them with Gaza atrocities, showing how past manipulations of the ICC by the US and Israel have come back to haunt them.

Source: Mintpress

[mysharona1987]

[drsonnet]

Belfast's International Wall becomes the Palestinian Wall

Belfast mural artists put up powerful show of solidarity with Gaza | In Pictures | Al Jazeera