Days of Palestine, The Hague –The Palestinian Authority (PA) officially joins ICC at the Hague on Wednesday, a step means starting probes into Israeli crimes.
By joining the ICC, the Palestinians seek to sue they Israeli occupaiton for “war crimes,” despite potential backlash from the Israeli occupation and the US.
On January 1, the PA signed the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the ICC. The UN announced that it would accept the “State of Palestine” as a member of the high court and implement its membership three months later.
In 2009, the PA applied to join the ICC but was rejected since it did not have state status. However, in November 2012, the UN granted the PA non-member state status, paving the way for the Palestinians to renew their ICC bid and join other international organisations.
Senior PA official Saeb Erekat said on Monday that the ICC has already launched a preliminary investigation into Israeli war crimes during last summer’s war in Gaza.
“The legal and technical committees have been extensively working on finalising the two files,” Erekat said. “We will conduct all practical moves directly after Palestine is officially declared an ICC member on Wednesday.”
The PA has made clear it would attempt to prosecute the Israeli occupation for crimes against humanity directed at the Palestinians and “illegal settlements” in occupied Jerusalem and West Bank.
- See more at: http://www.daysofpalestine.com/news/palestinian-authority-officially-joins-icc-today/#sthash.yIaDWxHn.dpuf
No comments:
Post a Comment