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A group of 12 Republican US senators sent a letter to International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan, threatening “severe sanctions” if international arrest warrants are issued against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials, as reported by Zeteo on Monday.
The senators allege that the ICC seeks to punish “legitimate actions of self-defense,” citing Khan’s report of the “calculated cruelty” he witnessed following the October 7 attack and making clear that they find “no moral equivalence between Hamas’s terrorism and Israel’s justified response.” They claimed that the arrest warrants “would align the ICC with the largest state sponsor of terrorism.”
The signatories declared they would take any warrant issued as “not only a threat to Israel’s sovereignty but to the sovereignty of the United States.” They threaten, “Target Israel and we will target you” and that any further action will “end all American support for the ICC” and “bar [Khan] and [his] families from the United States.” It ended: “You have been warned.”
The letter, dated April 24, 2024, was signed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky as well as Senators Tom Cotton of Arkansas; Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee; Katie Boyd Britt of Alabama; Ted Budd of North California; Kevin Cramer of North Dakota; Ted Cruz of Texas; Bill Hagerty of Tennessee; Pete Ricketts of Nebraska; Marco Rubio and Rick Scott of Florida; and Tim Scott of South Carolina.
A statement from the ICC Prosecutor’s Office made Friday noted that “significant public interest” surrounding present cases encouraged dialogue but warned against individuals threatening to retaliate against any actions of the court, which is prohibited under Article 70 of the Rome Statute, to which the US is not a party.
The US is not a member of the ICC and does not recognize its jurisdiction over the Palestinian territories, which the court asserts it has. The letter also highlighted the American Service-Members’ Protection Act, which prohibits federal, state and local governments from assisting the ICC and authorizes the US President “to use all means necessary and appropriate to bring about the release” of any “US person” or ally detained by the ICC.
In response to the letter’s release, Canadian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Bob Rae asserted that, “The ICC must be able to do its work free of intimidation.” Senator Cotton’s office has confirmed the letter’s authenticity to JURIST.
The ICC can prosecute individuals for alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. Currently, Israel is facing genocide accusations brought by South Africa in the separate International Court of Justice (ICJ), which has imposed provisional measures in Israel’s Gaza offensive.
The post US senators send threatening letter to ICC prosecutor over possible Netanyahu arrest warrant appeared first on JURIST - News.
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The senators allege that the ICC seeks to punish “legitimate actions of self-defense,” citing Khan’s report of the “calculated cruelty” he witnessed following the October 7 attack and making clear that they find “no moral equivalence between Hamas’s terrorism and Israel’s justified response.” They claimed that the arrest warrants “would align the ICC with the largest state sponsor of terrorism.”
The signatories declared they would take any warrant issued as “not only a threat to Israel’s sovereignty but to the sovereignty of the United States.” They threaten, “Target Israel and we will target you” and that any further action will “end all American support for the ICC” and “bar [Khan] and [his] families from the United States.” It ended: “You have been warned.”
The letter, dated April 24, 2024, was signed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky as well as Senators Tom Cotton of Arkansas; Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee; Katie Boyd Britt of Alabama; Ted Budd of North California; Kevin Cramer of North Dakota; Ted Cruz of Texas; Bill Hagerty of Tennessee; Pete Ricketts of Nebraska; Marco Rubio and Rick Scott of Florida; and Tim Scott of South Carolina.
A statement from the ICC Prosecutor’s Office made Friday noted that “significant public interest” surrounding present cases encouraged dialogue but warned against individuals threatening to retaliate against any actions of the court, which is prohibited under Article 70 of the Rome Statute, to which the US is not a party.
The US is not a member of the ICC and does not recognize its jurisdiction over the Palestinian territories, which the court asserts it has. The letter also highlighted the American Service-Members’ Protection Act, which prohibits federal, state and local governments from assisting the ICC and authorizes the US President “to use all means necessary and appropriate to bring about the release” of any “US person” or ally detained by the ICC.
In response to the letter’s release, Canadian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Bob Rae asserted that, “The ICC must be able to do its work free of intimidation.” Senator Cotton’s office has confirmed the letter’s authenticity to JURIST.
The ICC can prosecute individuals for alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. Currently, Israel is facing genocide accusations brought by South Africa in the separate International Court of Justice (ICJ), which has imposed provisional measures in Israel’s Gaza offensive.
The post US senators send threatening letter to ICC prosecutor over possible Netanyahu arrest warrant appeared first on JURIST - News.
Continue reading...
Note: We don't have any responsibilities about this news. Its been posted here by Feed Reader and we had no controls and checking on it. And because News posted here will be deleted automatically after 21 days, threads are closed so that no one spend time to post and discuss here. You can always check the source and discuss in their site.