Monday, November 25, 2024

A bright day in the history of the international humanitarian community



Pro-Palestinian protesters gather to show solidarity with Palestinians and protest against Israel’s ongoing attacks on Gaza, despite a ban on marches on International Holocaust Remembrance Day in Rome, Italy on January 27, 2024. [Riccardo De Luca – Anadolu Agency]

by Muhammad Jamil
November 23, 2024
MEMO

An earthquake shook the fascist entity after more than 400 days in which a genocide, the mother of all crimes, was being committed against the civilians in the Gaza Strip, including women, children and the elderly. The politicians of this entity believed they were immune from prosecution due to the unlimited support of the colonial West led by the United States.

The unanimous decision of the international Criminal Court Pre-Trail Chamber 1, which stipulated the approval of the arrest warrants of Netanyahu and Galant was a heavy blow that shook the entity and the supporting capitals, including members of the court who became helpless and regretted providing support for the crimes of the entity at all levels, military, political and economic.

The decision is of huge importance as it was issued unanimously by the highest international judicial body. This decision is the title of the truth, and it rebutted the Western narrative about the entity’s right to self-defence, as if the daily killings, destruction, and complete genocides were normal and accepted. The claims which the supporters of the entity and their media have been using regularly to deny the commission of Netanyahu and Galant of war crimes and crimes against humanity were thrown into the dustbin of history by a judicial blow. Those who provided support for Netanyahu’s crimes should lie low and watch their steps when it comes to future relationship with the entity.

The only decision-maker in the world, the United States of America, which is not a member of the International Criminal Court, stands alone and with complete impudence against this decision, claiming that the warrants were not issued in a way that followed the usual procedures in the court, as if the entity has means for prosecution, accountability and investigation of the alleged crimes. However, this position is not an unfamiliar one for a country that was founded after committing the first genocide in history against indigenous peoples and committed the most horrific crimes around the world.

As for the other countries, most notably the European countries and Britain, which are mostly supporters of the crimes of the occupation, they stand helpless now following this decision. Before this decision was issued, politicians fiercely denied the commission of the entity to any crimes and emphasised its right to self-defence. Today, after the issuance of the decision, they announce their respect to the decision and that they will arrest those who have warrants issued against them, should they set foot on the territories of any of these countries.




‘A war criminal’: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has blood on his hands – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/Middle East Monitor]Not only that, the 124 countries who are members of the International Criminal Court are obligated to implement this decision and cannot ignore it under any circumstances should the wanted persons dare to visit any of them, and even countries that are not members of the court are morally and legally obligated to arrest them. Those in Arab world who have normalised relations with the entity should reconsider their relationship with it, as it would be disgraceful to ignore a decision issued by the highest international judicial body.

Read: Are the ICC arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant a victory for Palestinians?

The current debates that only the states parties to the court are obligated to implement the decision are completely wrong. All 195 member states of the International Police Organization (Interpol) are also legally obligated to implement the decision. In 2004, the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court signed an agreement with Interpol stipulating comprehensive cooperation in prosecuting crimes specified in the Rome Convention.

More importantly, in Article 4 of the agreement, Interpol is obligated to circulate red notices with the names of the wanted persons upon the request of the Prosecutor.

Moreover, Interpol has made serious crimes stipulated in the Rome Convention a core part of its work. In 2014, it established a special unit to focus on war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in cooperation with member states and international courts concerned with these crimes.

The issuance of these warrants went through stages of unprecedented difficult throes, including spying on court employees and sending death threats to the prosecutor, judges and their families. However, all these efforts failed in preventing the issuance of the warrants that brought life again to international humanitarian law which had entered a state of clinical death due to the blows it constantly received over more than a year of genocide.

The office of the Prosecutor has a long way to go to prosecute many crimes, old and new, which were committed since Palestine was subjected to the jurisdiction of the court in June 2014. The most important ones of those crimes are the crimes of settlement, as the West Bank is on the verge of annexation, according to Smotrich. The list of perpetrators of crimes in occupied Palestine is long. If the prosecutor rolled up his sleeves, freed himself from the threats and pressures, and took the required measures, the entity will break the record in arrest warrants and will be marked as a rogue entity.

It is truly a black day in the history of the entity and a bright day in the history of the international humanitarian community which gave a glimmer of hope in the possibility of pursuing and holding accountable those who considered themselves above the law for decades, committed the most heinous crimes, and ignored all international resolutions and calls to stop the crime of genocide in the Gaza Strip.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.


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