"Judge Kuniko Ozaki, a vice president of the ICC, said acceding to the treaty was just the first step for the Palestinians.
"As the Rome Statute today enters into force for the State of Palestine, Palestine acquires all the rights as well as responsibilities that come with being a State Party to the Statute. These are substantive commitments, which cannot be taken lightly," she said.
Rights group Human Rights Watch welcomed the development.
"Governments seeking to penalize Palestine for joining the ICC should immediately end their pressure, and countries that support universal acceptance of the court's treaty should speak out to welcome its membership," said Balkees Jarrah, international justice counsel for the group.
"What's objectionable is the attempts to undermine international justice, not Palestine's decision to join a treaty to which over 100 countries around the world are members."" CNN
***********
The US has announced that it will oppose any war crimes actions against Israel at the ICC. The US is not a signatory to the Rome Statute so such action will have to take the form of indirect pressure on states that have staff and judges on the ICC. Israel can be expected to take similar action.
If there actually are investigations concerning Israeli and Palestinian actions then there might be international indictments and arrest warrants issued which would be a major nuisance for individuals and organizations indicted. The problems involved in travel would be severe because the indicted parties might be arrested and held for trial in any state where the Rome Statute is in effect.
In Israel's case it might be necessary to fly non-stop from Tel Aviv to the US. pl
http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/01/middleeast/palestinians-icc-membership/
Recent Comments