Several petitions have been filed in the
International Criminal Court (ICC) for proceedings against Israel. The Public
Prosecutor of the ICC has visited Israel, Palestine (Gaza Strip) and even
talked to families of victims. As the Israeli government has not ratified the
Rome Statute of the ICC it claims to remain outside the jurisdiction of ICC.
However the UK and Germany have ratified the Rome Statute. It is public
knowledge that Sunak and Olaf Scholz did visit the scene of ongoing crime in
Israel in October 2023 and promised to stand by Israel in this war. The UK
government has sent arms and ammunition (see here).
The German government followed suit (see
here).
The ICC has thus the jurisdiction to
investigate the complicity of these two individuals viz. Sunak and Olaf Scholz
and the governments they represent viz. UK and Germany. As suppliers of arms
and ammunition to Israel in the ongoing Holocaust-II of Palestinians,
they/their respective governments are indeed complicit in the crime against
humanity. After satisfying that arms and ammunition were supplied to Israel
through its own independent investigations, the ICC could issue warrants of
arrest against the two entities.
Meanwhile the USA and Israel are
smarting under the fig leaf of an excuse that they are both not signatories to the
Rome Statute and are outside the purview of ICC. Even the mere issuance of
warrants of arrest against Sunak and Olaf Scholz would be a moral victory for
the international community. Why, even the act of pressing for legal proceedings
at ICC alone would change global power equations.
France had strengthened its naval
presence in the Eastern Mediterranean. This announcement was made by Macron on
October 25 according to Le
Monde:
“The
move marks a significant reinforcement of France’s military posture in the war
between Israel & Hamas.”
However the French government is at
pains to explain that the naval presence is for humanitarian aid only.
There are positive signals all round.
The ongoing worldwide mass protests against the Israeli government; the 153
countries opposing Israel at UNGA; the European Parliament election in 2024;
and the domestic pressure in Israel, USA, UK –
countries due for general elections in 2024 could eventually lead to a
Nuremberg-II Trial!
[P.S.
Sahni is a qualified orthopaedic surgeon. He has
worked extensively with the victims of Sikh Genocide in 1984; amongst victims
of 1992 anti-Muslim violence; and at the India-Bangladesh border during the
Bangladesh Liberation War resulting in 1971 Bangladesh Genocide of Hindus.
Blog: https://pilwatchgroup.blogspot.com/ ]
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