By Max Bartels
Impunity Watch Reporter, The Middle East
The Hague, Netherlands
On Wednesday Palestine officially joined the International Court of Justice after signing the Rome Statute in January if this year. Palestine seeks to pursue charges against Israel for alleged war crimes committed on Palestinian territory by Israeli troops. Israel is not a party to the Rome Statue however; military and civilian officials could still face charges if the court believes that crimes were committed on Palestinian territory. The signing of the Rome Statute by Palestine also opens up Palestinian officials and militants to be prosecuted by the court.
There are reports that several Palestinian are set to file complaints with the ICC, however it is the prosecutors and the judges who decide which cases to pursue. When Palestine signed the Statute in January, ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda launched a preliminary to determine if there will be a formal investigation into Palestinian grievances.
The Israeli government objected to the Palestinian Authority joining the Court, stating that Palestine is not recognized as a sovereign state. The U.S has also objected to the addition of Palestine to the Court for the same reason and warned that it would cut funding for the Palestinian authority. The Israeli government froze about $400 million in tax revenues collected by Israel on behalf of the Palestinian organization. Human Rights Watch called for governments who are penalizing Palestine for joining the Court to end their pressure. Human Rights Watch claims that it documented what it believed to be war crimes during the 2014 Gaza conflict which claimed 2,000 Palestinian lives as well as 73 Israeli. However, both sides had prevented meaningful justice for these incidents. Israel has launched investigations into the incidents in Gaza but the Palestinian authority has not announced an investigation of its own.
It remains to be seen whether the Court will chose to launch formal investigations into the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. The Court will be hesitant of being dragged into such a heavily politicized case. Furthermore, the ICC does not investigate cases that are already being looked into by other judicial institutions. The Court will not investigate these allegations if an Israeli judicial institution is investigating the case up to the standards if the International Criminal Court. Experts have stated that if the Court does open formal investigations they will not open them in an area that includes only Israel, they will want to look into both sides.
For more information, please see:
Al Jazeera — Palestine Formally Joins International Criminal Court — 1 April, 2015
BBC News — Palestinians Formally Join International Criminal Court — 1 April, 2015
Reuters — Dilemma for Israel as Palestinians Join War Crimes Court — 31 March, 2015
