The ICC Can't Deliver Justice for Palestinians.
Some quick thoughts on today’s statement by ICC prosecutor Karim Khan:
Of the 12 ICC cases currently under investigation, 5 are in Africa. Of the 5 concluded investigations, 4 are in Africa. Every defendant convicted by the ICC thus far is African. As noted by international lawyers and political scientists over the past decade, the ICC is widely seen as biased at best. At worst, its critics charge the ICC is hardly fit for purpose in successfully prosecuting war criminals outside of the African continent, or even attempting to prosecute the crimes of neocolonial proxies such as Saudi Arabia (much less their benefactors in the US, the UK, and other NATO-aligned nations).
The warrant on Netanyahu and Gallant may be groundbreaking in terms of symbolism, but the warrant itself has no teeth without willingness on the part of the US (which is not an ICC signatory and has flatly refused to arrest either), or the UK (which is an ICC signatory, and will not clarify if they will comply). Neither is it especially meaningful if the states which directly supply Israel’s arms and financing face no criminal repercussions.
Not to understate the gravity of the warrant, of course. But without the stated willingness of ICC signatories to prosecute Netanyahu and Gallant if they land on or fly over those countries, the warrant is a weightless statement. And given that none of Israel’s major financial and military partners appears to be willing to restrict the flow (much less stanch it altogether), the ICJ’s genocide investigation will conclude years after Israel either completes its objectives or withdraws on terms unimpeded by the ICJ’s ruling this past May.
In other words, without the power of enforcement, what good are human rights laws but a polite suggestion to Israel?