U.N. confirms Palestinians will be ICC member on April 1 | World Defense

U.N. confirms Palestinians will be ICC member on April 1

Scorpion

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U.N. confirms Palestinians will be ICC member on April 1

(Reuters) - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has confirmed the Palestinians will formally become a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on April 1 and the court's registrar said on Wednesday that jurisdiction would date back to June 13, 2014.

This means the court's prosecutor could investigate the 50-day war between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip in July and August 2014, during which more than 2,100 Palestinians, 67 Israeli soldiers and six civilians in Israel were killed.

The Hague-based court handles war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. It could exercise jurisdiction over such crimes committed by anyone on Palestinian territory. Israel, like the United States, is not a an ICC member, but its citizens could be tried on accusations of crimes on Palestinian land.

On Friday the Palestinians delivered to U.N. headquarters documents to join the Rome Statute of the ICC and other international treaties, in a move that has heightened tensions with Israel and could lead to cuts in U.S. aid.

Ban announced in a letter posted to a U.N. website late on Tuesday that the Palestinians would formally become an ICC member on April 1. The United Nations is the official depositary of the Rome Statute and many other treaties.

The United States said on Wednesday it does not believe Palestine is a sovereign state and therefore does not qualify to be part of the International Criminal Court.

Experts said the only apparent way to challenge the Palestinians' eligibility to be an ICC member would be in court.

"The most likely challenge would be if an Israeli national ever came before the court," said Dov Jacobs, a law professor at Leiden University in the Netherlands.

"A defense lawyer could try to challenge the case's legality by arguing to judges that Palestine was not a state," he said. Few scholars say that such an argument would be successful.

The Palestinian government signed the Rome Statute on Dec. 31, a day after a bid for independence by 2017 failed at the U.N. Security Council.

The Palestinians, who have been locked in a bloody conflict with Israel for decades, seek a state that covers Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem - lands Israel captured in a 1967 war.

Momentum to recognize a Palestinian state has built since President Mahmoud Abbas succeeded in a bid for de facto recognition of statehood at the U.N. General Assembly in 2012, making Palestinians eligible to join the ICC.

U.N. confirms Palestinians will be ICC member on April 1| Reuters
 

Scorpion

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A Palestinian boy looks through a fence near his family's house (not seen), that witnesses said was damaged by Israeli shelling during a 50-day war last summer, in the east of Gaza City January 7, 2015.
 

Scorpion

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Why the whole world is turning a blind eye to the atrocities committed by the zionist regime?
 

Falcon29

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Palestinians affected by Israeli assault on Gaza should file cases. There was dozens of targeted attacks on civilian homes which killed whole members of family in one strike. They were premeditated massacres. Here is one example:

PHOTOS: A Gaza funeral for 26 members of one family | +972 Magazine

In just one example of the ongoing Israeli tactic of targeting civilian homes, 26 members of the Abu Jame’ family, including 18 children, were killed in a single strike.

001-14686227666_c69c156c75_o.jpg


...........

Settlements also need to be brought up.
 

003

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What does it mean being a member of International Criminal Court? Does it mean being part of the UN? And what perks does it have to be a member? What kind of special power is given to the country? And how do you think its citizens feel about it? Also why is US not an ICC member?
 

joshua minaya

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What does it mean being a member of International Criminal Court? Does it mean being part of the UN? And what perks does it have to be a member? What kind of special power is given to the country? And how do you think its citizens feel about it? Also why is US not an ICC member?
I believe their are lots of advantages that are to be derived by being a member of the ICC but also it would serve as a a wake up call for the Palestinians so that they can also look inward and solve their own domestic violence.
 

Redheart

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What does it mean being a member of International Criminal Court? Does it mean being part of the UN? And what perks does it have to be a member? What kind of special power is given to the country? And how do you think its citizens feel about it? Also why is US not an ICC member?
Palestine wants justice for crimes committed against their people by Israelis. Since there's no court that can prosecute the Israelis who murder them, they had no option but to turn to the ICC in a bid to get justice. Should Israelis attack Palestine again then the ICC can conduct investigations and demand that those who violated human rights be handed over.

What remains to be seen is whether is Israel will comply with ICC's demands to have their soldiers tried by the court and should they refuse, will the West slap Israel with sanctions?

IMHO, the ICC is like a chained toothless dog. It can bark all it likes . . .

Sudanese president Bashir still walks around. Why? He doesn't recognize ICC's authority. The Israelis could follow Bashir's example.
 

Gabriel

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What does it mean being a member of International Criminal Court? Does it mean being part of the UN? And what perks does it have to be a member? What kind of special power is given to the country? And how do you think its citizens feel about it? Also why is US not an ICC member?

It means that a country can take another country to court over war crimes, genocide or crimes against humanity. The USA dropped out as Clinton signed but did not ratify the treaty, then Bush came in and unsigned. The USA will not join for many reasons, they fear cases against them like Guantanamo Bay and other actions. Many also say it's unconstitutional but actually the courts found it isn't, as the USA still has sovereign power, the ICC can only try cases if the domestic country refuses to do so or is deliberately impeding a case.

Countries not in the ICC are those who still use torture and ones who would likely to be prosecuted by the ICC. The perks are a small country with a weak government like Cambodia can try people for crimes against humanity as their own system cannot guarantee a fair trial or the court system is tainted. So it helps countries with repressed regimes because their own country cannot try the perpetrators.
 

Falcon29

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I believe their are lots of advantages that are to be derived by being a member of the ICC but also it would serve as a a wake up call for the Palestinians so that they can also look inward and solve their own domestic violence.

What domestic violence...?
 

UAE

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Palestinians affected by Israeli assault on Gaza should file cases. There was dozens of targeted attacks on civilian homes which killed whole members of family in one strike. They were premeditated massacres. Here is one example:

PHOTOS: A Gaza funeral for 26 members of one family | +972 Magazine

In just one example of the ongoing Israeli tactic of targeting civilian homes, 26 members of the Abu Jame’ family, including 18 children, were killed in a single strike.

001-14686227666_c69c156c75_o.jpg


...........

Settlements also need to be brought up.

Tha is heartbreaking. May the rest in peace.(:-\
 
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