Palestine to Join ICC on April 1st

[sister herb]

Thursday January 08, 2015 02:14 by IMEMC News & Agencies

In a statement posted on the UN's treaty website Tuesday night, United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, said: "The statute will enter into force for the State of Palestine on April 1, 2015."

On Monday, ICC registrar Herman von Herbel confirmed that the body has received documents by Palestine declaring its acceptance of the body's jurisdiction, the Palestinian News Network (PNN) reports.

This paves the way for the court's investigation of Israeli crimes committed during the recent war on Gaza which killed over 2,000 people, mostly from the civilian population.

When Palestine accedes to the Rome Statute, the Hague-based court would be able to prosecute Israeli officials for crimes they have committed, over the past months, in Gaza and the West Bank.

The ICC started its work in early July of 2002, when the Rome Statute entered into force as the foundational and governing document. Currently, there are 122 states, which are party to the Rome Statute and, thus, members of the ICC.

The United States and Israel, along with Sudan, have said that they no longer intend to become states parties and, therefore, have no legal obligations arising from their former representatives' signature of the Statute.

Israel and the US are extremely angry about Palestine's attempt to join the ICC, with US officials calling the move "counter-productive". Israel has also halted the transfer of more than USD 120 million in taxes belonging to the Palestinians, in retaliation for their application to join the ICC, and have vowed collective punishment, Press TV also reported.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signed the request to join the ICC after the United Nations Security Council rejected a Palestinian proposal for statehood on December 30.

See Video 09/02/14: Gaza City's Devastated Al-Shuja'eyya Suburb

http://www.imemc.org/article/70208

 

[Hassan]

I read about this elsewhere but it seemed too good to be true. The BBC don't seem to be saying much about it.

Mabrouk. Progress!

 

[sister herb]

ICC Probe Into Israeli War Crimes Opened

Friday January 16, 2015 20:17 by IMEMC News & Agencies

The International Criminal Court's prosecutor, on Friday, opened an initial probe to see if war crimes have been committed against Palestinians, including during last year's war on Gaza.

"Today the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Fatou Bensouda opened a preliminary examination into the situation in Palestine," her office announced in a statement, adding it may lead to a full-blown investigation.

According to AFP, Bensouda said her office would conduct its "analysis in full independence and impartiality".

"A preliminary examination is not an investigation but a process of examining the information available in order to reach a fully informed determination on whether there is a reasonable basis to proceed with a (full) investigation," Bensouda said.

Depending on her findings, Bensouda will decide at a later stage whether to launch or quash the investigation, based on the initial probe.

Meanwhile, Palestinian ambassador to Russia, Faid Mustafa, told Ma'an News Agency that the Palestinian Authority had begun to prepare documents for lodging formal accusations against Israel.

President Mahmoud Abbas signed requests to join the ICC and 16 other conventions, following the UN Security Council's failure to adopt a resolution which might have opened channels for full Palestinian statehood.

The US branded the move as "counterproductive", while Israel responded by delaying the transfer of $127 million in taxes it collects on behalf of the Palestinians.

According to the UN, Palestine is slated to join the ICC on April 1st.

Search IMEMC: "ICC"

http://www.imemc.org/article/70274