UN, ICC must order war crimes trials for Israeli leaders

The merciless attacks that killed and wounded hundreds of women and children, the use of banned weapons on civilians, and the crippling siege of 1.5 million people in the Gaza Strip are only some of the Israeli leaders’ crimes against humanity.

Though the Geneva and Vienna conventions have banned the use of unconventional weapons against civilians, the Zionist regime used such weapons in Gaza with no regard for the devastating effect of such a move.

In light of the fact that Israeli war criminals have flouted international law, the international community must take serious measures to contain such regimes or the world will descend into the maelstrom and there will be nothing but the law of the jungle.

Immediately after World War II, the Nuremberg tribunal was established to try Nazi leaders for war crimes. However, today the West is mum about the Israeli leaders’ violations of international law.

International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo, who attended the most recent World Economic Forum in Davos, confirmed that Israel had violated the rules of war, but to the astonishment of participants at the conference, he said his court had no jurisdiction over Israel since the Tel Aviv regime has not signed the Rome Statute creating the ICC.

Such statements demonstrate the weakness of international bodies in the face of the Zionist lobby because the Hague-based court is obligated to punish war criminals according to international law. It is authorized to order the arrest of Israeli leaders for war crimes if the UN Security Council calls for it to do so.

According to articles 12 and 13 of the Rome Statute, the International Criminal Court can only exercise jurisdiction in cases where the accused is a citizen of a state party, the alleged crime took place on the territory of a state party, or in a case where “a situation in which one or more of such crimes appears to have been committed is referred to the Prosecutor by the Security Council acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations.”

Why did the ICC issue an arrest warrant for Sudan’s elected president over the Darfur crisis but appears powerless to act against Israeli leaders who have committed crimes against a nation under occupation?

Moreover, while The Hague court has taken actions against Bosnian Serb war criminal Radovan Karadzic and Congolese militia leader Thomas Lubanga, it is showing indifference toward the major war crimes committed by Israeli officials.

Such silence raises many doubts about international bodies’ interest in upholding human rights. Such institutions should not apply a double-standard policy toward certain nations.

As a matter of fact, the ICC has clearly defined cases which constitute war crimes, but certain Western countries, especially the United States, are still exercising a discriminatory approach toward such issues.

That is why over 375 individuals and NGOs have filed complaints against Israel at the ICC since the Zionist regime ended its ruthless war on Gaza.

And now the court is facing a historic test in which it must prove that it will not bow to outside pressure and will take steps to promote justice in the international arena and make efforts to prevent a descent into the maelstrom of the law of the jungle.

(Feb. 5 Tehran Times Opinion Column, by Hassan Hanizadeh)

PA/HG

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