Published October 29,2024
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The International Criminal Court (ICC) faces allegations of hypocrisy for delaying the arrest warrant requests for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for over 5 months, whereas the warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin was authorised in simply 24 days.
The requests for arrest warrants, submitted on May 20 by the ICC Prosecutor’s Office for Netanyahu, Gallant, and three Hamas leaders, have encountered systematic obstruction from Israel and its allies.
The ICC has moved rapidly in circumstances associated to Ukraine, issuing arrest warrants for six Russian officers, together with Putin, inside months. In distinction, no arrest warrants have been issued within the Gaza case for the reason that investigation started in 2019, revealing important delays and perceived double requirements.
Prolonged delays within the Palestine investigation stem from Israel’s espionage operations concentrating on the ICC and its officers for 9 years, alongside the withdrawal of a decide reviewing the case. Complications arose after the UK challenged the ICC’s jurisdiction, following allegations of misconduct towards Prosecutor Karim Khan.
– ALLEGATIONS AGAINST PROSECUTOR KHAN
Shortly after Khan requested the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, an investigation into his alleged misconduct towards an ICC workers member surfaced. The ICC Assembly of States Parties confirmed that the investigation was ongoing however didn’t discover enough grounds to proceed right now. The timing of those allegations, coinciding with the arrest warrant requests, has raised suspicions.
– WITHDRAWAL OF JUDGE MOTOC
Judge Julia Motoc, who led the Pre-Trial Chamber reviewing the case, withdrew for “health reasons and to ensure the proper functioning of justice.” The ICC introduced that Judge Beti Hohler, a Slovenian decide who joined the courtroom concurrently, would substitute Motoc.
International authorized skilled Dr. Owiso Owiso warned that Motoc’s withdrawal may extend the method, whereas former UN official Craig Mokhiber criticized the sudden change as suspicious amid growing stress from Israel and Western nations. Mokhiber famous that Judge Hohler had beforehand recommended that Israeli officers must be tried in home courts quite than on the ICC.
– SYSTEMATIC DELAYS SINCE 2019
Delays within the Palestine investigation hint again to 2015 when former ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda initiated a preliminary examination. Although the investigation met the mandatory standards in 2019, it was postponed on account of jurisdiction debates over Palestinian territories. The formal investigation started in March 2021, but no significant progress has been made, additional delaying requests towards Netanyahu and Gallant.
In July 2024, the UK sophisticated issues by difficult Palestine’s statehood and the ICC’s jurisdiction. Although it later withdrew from the method, the ICC accepted over 60 related submissions, inflicting extra delays within the pending arrest warrant requests.
– US SANCTION THREATS AND MOSSAD INTERFERENCE
The ICC has confronted threats from the US Senate, warning that sanctions could be imposed if arrest warrants have been issued towards Israeli officers. These threats echo previous actions, resembling freezing the belongings of former Prosecutor Bensouda and imposing journey bans in the course of the Afghanistan investigation.
Israel’s intelligence company, Mossad, has additionally interfered with the ICC’s operations. Former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen reportedly met secretly with Prosecutor Bensouda to influence her towards pursuing circumstances towards Israeli personnel. Multiple sources point out that Cohen made persistent and threatening overtures, together with leveraging private data to intimidate Bensouda.
Such pressures have compromised the ICC’s independence and extended the investigation course of, undermining its credibility and talent to ship justice.
Source: www.anews.com.tr