Rome Statute

THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS (Opinion) — The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, recently announced that a “preliminary investigation” would be launched into the sovereign state of Venezuela, citing alleged incidents of state violence committed during the months of street protests in 2017. These violent protests claimed the lives of over 100 people from direct violence, violence related to looting, road blockades that prevented ambulances from reaching hospitals, as well as instances of adventurism.

The Har Homa neighborhood, an illegal Israeli settlement in occupied east Jerusalem. (AP/Dan Balilty)
Israel may be committing a war crime by revoking residency permits for Palestinians in East Jerusalem, Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday.
In a new report, the rights group said “deportation or forced transfers of any part of the population of an occupied territory could amount to war crimes under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court”.

An Israeli worker inspects barrels in a winery in the West Bank settlement of Psagot.
For a brief period, wines made in Israeli settlements built illegally in the occupied West Bank could not be sold in Ontario with the label “Product of Israel”.
The ruling was short-lived, and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency abruptly reversed its decision late last week.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo leaves after a swearing-in ceremony at The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands, Friday, June 15, 2012. (AP/Bas Czerwinski)
The former prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Luis Moreno Ocampo has said that the investigation being carried out by the ICC concerning the issue of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, will most likely result in condemnation of Israeli officials since the establishment of settlements is considered a continuing war crime.

Press TV – November 1, 2016 The International Criminal Court (ICC) is preparing to launch an investigation of a range of possible war crimes in Afghanistan, including those committed by US troops, according to a new report. ICC chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, will seek to initiate an investigation in the coming weeks, according to the […]

 
Image: PA President Mahmoud Abbas signs international agreements in Ramallah, December 31, 2014.  Photo by Reuters (Courtesy Haaretz.com)
 

For years, the Palestinian president Abbas has deluded himself that the United States would act to end the Israeli occupation during his lifetime. On Wednesday, he was forced to abandon his illusions.

On 17 July 1998, the international community reached an historic milestone — that has so far proved of little useful purpose — when 120 States adopted the Rome Statute, the legal basis for establishing a permanent International Criminal Court (ICC).

By David Morrison | Friends of Lebanon | January 16, 2014

It is British policy to extend the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to every corner of the earth, except the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel since 1967, that is, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza.

By JOHN V. WHITBECK | CounterPunch | September 3, 2013

Now that Prime Minister David Cameron has sought parliamentary approval for “military action” against Syria and President Barack Obama has announced his intention to seek congressional approval, can President François Hollande, as a political if not a strictly constitutional matter, afford not to do likewise?