Lawyers urge ICC to use Article 70 to sue 'Israel' for ICC provocation
5 Min Read
Lawyers confirm that "anyone who has sought to impede, intimidate or corruptly influence the ICC’s officials” is subject to be sued under Article 70 of the Rome Statute.
-
An exterior view of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, December 6, 2022. (AP)
Following The Guardian's revelations of the Israeli Mossad intimidating and threatening the former ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda for the past nine years, lawyers and legal experts jumped to further prove how much "Israel" has been making a mockery of international law.
Toby Cadman, a UK-based international criminal and humanitarian law barrister, said the findings were “deeply disturbing” and entailed allegations that “constitute an attempt to pervert the course of justice through the use of threats” to Bensouda.
“It is quite clear that these are matters that fall within the jurisdiction of the ICC, in particular under article 70 of the statute. Any person who has attempted to obstruct the independent investigations of the prosecutor must face the consequences,” he continued.
Matt Cannock, the head of Amnesty International’s Center for International Justice in The Hague, said, “It is abundantly clear that many of the examples highlighted in the reporting would amount to [Article 70 offenses]. Such charges should be brought against anyone who has sought to impede, intimidate, or corruptly influence the ICC’s officials.”
Read next: Request submitted to ICC against EU's Von der Leyen for Gaza genocide
An assistant professor in criminal law at the University of the Fraser Valley in Canada, Mark Kersten, said, “It is hard to imagine what could be a more blatant attempt to wrongfully interfere in a prosecutorial process.”
In response, a spokesperson for Netanyahu’s office claimed The Guardian's request for comments is "replete with many false and unfounded allegations meant to hurt the state of Israel."
'Change course or destroy order'
ICC's International Federation for Human Rights representative, Danya Chaikel, called the allegations "a wake-up call for the state parties to what’s at stake. They need to rally together and support the court that they built."
She added that protecting the international justice system means shielding it from "threats, especially egregious threats against those given the huge responsibility of working for all of us to prosecute the worst crimes known to humanity."
A senior anonymous Palestinian official, told The Guardian, "Tactics that have been used against Palestinians living under occupation have now been used against international officials from some of the world’s most important institutions. This investigation shows that Israel’s belief in its impunity now goes beyond Palestine’s borders."
They continued, "The international community now has two options. Either change course and protect international law and international institutions, or destroy the rules-based order for the sake of defending Israel."
According to Adil Haque, a law professor at Rutgers University in New Jersey, the prosecutor’s office has to be quick in its response if it wishes to investigate, especially since Article 70 offenses entail a five-year statute of limitations. He further urged member states to offer their assistance.
"This is the behavior of a crime family, not the conduct of a state, and member states should say so," Haque said.
A spokesperson for current ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan’s office said they could not give further comments more than Khan's warnings this month that "all attempts to impede, intimidate or improperly influence the officials of this court must cease immediately."
Threats during secret meetings
The former head of the Israeli Mossad, Yossi Cohen, reportedly threatened the former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Fatou Bensouda, during secret meetings to pressure her into abandoning the investigation into "Israel" for war crimes in Palestine.
According to The Guardian, an Israeli source briefed on the operation against Bensouda claimed that the Mossad meant to compromise Bensouda or enlist her as someone who would work with "Israel’s" demands, while another source said Cohen was serving as Netanyahu’s "unofficial messenger".
Four sources confirmed that Bensouda notified a few senior ICC officials about Cohen’s attempts to persuade her, while three of them said she told them Cohen pressured her multiple times to not go on with the Palestine case.
Accounts shared with ICC officials say that he is reported to have told her, "You should help us and let us take care of you. You don’t want to be getting into things that could compromise your security or that of your family."
Read more: Netanyahu 'disappointed' by Biden refusal on ICC sanctions: Politico
The Mossad even obtained transcripts of secret recordings and photos of her husband, according to two sources, who continued to say that he tried to blackmail and discredit her.
These revelations are part of an investigation by The Guardian, and the Israeli +972 Magazine and Local Call, into how Israeli intelligence agencies ran a covert "war" against the ICC for almost 10 years.
