A bunch of 12 Republican US senators despatched a letter to Worldwide Prison Court docket (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan, threatening repercussions if the court docket points arrest warrants in opposition to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and different officers, in accordance a Monday report from information group Zeteo.
The senators allege that the ICC seeks to punish “legit actions of self-defense,” citing Khan’s report of the “calculated cruelty” he witnessed following the October 7 assault and making clear that they discover “no ethical equivalence between Hamas’s terrorism and Israel’s justified response.” They claimed that the arrest warrants “would align the ICC with the biggest state sponsor of terrorism.”
The signatories declared they might take any warrant issued as “not solely a risk to Israel’s sovereignty however to the sovereignty of the US.” They threaten, “Goal Israel and we’ll goal you” and that any additional motion will “finish all American support for the ICC” and “bar [Khan] and [his] households from the US.” It ended: “You’ve been warned.”
The letter, dated April 24, 2024, was signed by Senate Minority Chief Mitch McConnell of Kentucky in addition to Senators Tom Cotton of Arkansas; Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee; Katie Boyd Britt of Alabama; Ted Budd of North California; Kevin Cramer of North Dakota; Ted Cruz of Texas; Invoice Hagerty of Tennessee; Pete Ricketts of Nebraska; Marco Rubio and Rick Scott of Florida; and Tim Scott of South Carolina.
A statement from the ICC Prosecutor’s Workplace made Friday famous that “important public curiosity” surrounding current circumstances inspired dialogue however warned in opposition to people threatening to retaliate in opposition to any actions of the court docket, which is prohibited underneath Article 70 of the Rome Statute, to which the US is just not a celebration.
The US is just not a member of the ICC and does not recognize its jurisdiction over the Palestinian territories, which the court docket asserts it has. The letter additionally highlighted the American Service-Members’ Protection Act, which prohibits federal, state and native governments from aiding the ICC and authorizes the US President “to make use of all means needed and applicable to deliver in regards to the launch” of any “US individual” or ally detained by the ICC.
In response to the letter’s launch, Canadian Everlasting Consultant to the United Nations Bob Rae asserted that, “The ICC should have the ability to do its work freed from intimidation.” Senator Cotton’s workplace has confirmed the letter’s authenticity to JURIST.
The ICC can prosecute people for alleged struggle crimes, crimes in opposition to humanity and genocide. Presently, Israel is dealing with genocide accusations introduced by South Africa within the separate Worldwide Court docket of Justice (ICJ), which has imposed provisional measures in Israel’s Gaza offensive.
Source / Picture: jurist.org
