The International Criminal Court may issue arrest warrants for each Israeli and Hamas leaders within the wake of Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attacks on Israeli civilians and the next Israeli invasion of Gaza, according to Israeli officials and what The New York Times and other sources mass media called “foreign officials”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is one of them individuals who may be named within the arrest warrant Already this week, the Israeli every day Haaretz reported April 28, 2024.
The ICC, an independent tribunal based in The Hague, Netherlands, prosecutes genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes – the latter legal term which incorporates attacks on civilians and other crimes. violations of martial lawSuch as blocking humanitarian aid.
Karim Khan, the present chief prosecutor of the ICC, announced in November 2023 that he would launch an investigation into Hamas and Israeli suspects following the Hamas attack in Israel that killed 1,200 people and kidnapped tons of more, and Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza, which has thus far over 34,000 Palestinians died.
ICC criminal investigation appears right after the famous genocide case which South Africa brought against Israel in December 2023 before one other international tribunal called the International Court of Justice.
But these investigations and courts are different. Although the ICC may conduct trials of those allegedly answerable for criminal violations of international humanitarian law, the International Court of Justice is the part of the United Nations that adjudicates civil and civil disputes. cannot accuse individuals of crimes.
How human rights researcher and international courts, I consider it is vital to emphasize that international criminal tribunals do not have enforcement powers of their very own. And meaning they could never be able to arrest suspects or bring them to justice.
Therefore, these international courts have had mixed experiences in holding senior political and military leaders accountable for his or her crimes. Only when political leaders lose power is there a likelihood that their governments will arrest them and hand them over to international courts for prosecution.
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A challenge for international courts
Take the instance of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has been opposing an ICC arrest warrant since March 2023 for allegedly committing war crimes throughout the Ukrainian war. As long as Putin stays in power, there’s virtually no likelihood of his arrest.
International criminal tribunals just like the ICC have a two-fold problem. First, these tribunals haven’t any real international police force to perform arrests.
Second, governments implicated within the alleged crimes of their leaders often try to obstruct the work of international tribunals by not handing over suspects and trying to attack the tribunals as biased.
The problem of enforcement, as my scholarship has showncould allow the leaders of a robust country like Israel to avoid arrest warrants issued by international courts – provided the suspects remain within the country.
Israel is in this case is not a celebration to the ICC, meaning that he has never agreed to abide by his judgments or arrest orders and does not otherwise recognize the court’s jurisdiction. The United States and other countries, including Qatar, where some Hamas leaders live, are also not members of the ICC and haven’t any legal obligation to make arrests.
This signifies that if the ICC issues an arrest warrant for Netanyahu, he will be able to go to meet US leaders in Washington without fear of arrest. But he could not easily go to European Union countries, all of that are members of the ICC, and would be forced to arrest Netanyahu.
It is unclear what precisely the ICC’s alleged allegations might include. However, Netanyahu and other Israeli political and military leaders may now avoid traveling to ICC member states in order not to risk arrest if a warrant is issued.
All this may also contribute to Israel’s development further international isolation and pressure on his conduct throughout the war.
Prosecuting Hamas leaders involved within the October 7 atrocities could similarly stigmatize Hamas internationally.
The United States, which at times strongly opposed the ICC, but additionally supported the ICC the court on an ad hoc basis, he warned that issuing arrest warrants for Israeli leaders could jeopardize a possible ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
Milosevic’s fall from power
Not all arrest warrants fail.
Attempt Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic from the mid-2000s shows how international tribunals might be able to prosecute alleged war criminals after they lose power.
In 1993, while the war in Bosnia was still ongoing, the UN Security Council established a special court, called the Tribunal for International Criminal Tribunal for the previous Yugoslaviato address crimes committed during regional wars.
This court indicted Serbian nationalist leader Slobodan Milosevic for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in 1999 throughout the ongoing war in Kosovo. Milosevic’s alleged crimes in Kosovo include a large ethnic cleansing campaign against Kosovo Albanians, the country’s largest ethnic group. Milosevic later faced additional charges for alleged crimes in Bosnia and Croatia.
However, on the time of the indictment, Milosevic was still in power and his government protected him from arrest. Milosevic lost the presidential election in late September 2000 and after widespread protests he gave in.
The United States promised the brand new democratic government in Serbia significant economic aid to speed up post-war recovery. This helped persuade the Serbian government to achieve this arrest Milosevic and then move it to international tribunal in June 2001.
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A possible handbook for the leaders of Israel and Hamas
Milosevic trial was launched in February 2002but he died in prison in 2006, shortly before the tip of the trial.
His trial continues to show that, under certain circumstances, international courts can overcome their lack of enforcement powers and bring high-level suspects to justice. International political pressures and incentives often play a pivotal role on this process.
As long as any political and military leaders facing potential arrest remain in power, it is probably going that no amount of political pressure or guarantees will persuade Israel, Qatar or other countries to cooperate with the international court and hand over any leaders in the event that they are indicted.
History also shows that even if Hamas leaders are overthrown or Israeli leaders lose the elections, there isn’t any guarantee that potential suspects will ever face the ICC.
In Israel, there’s broad public opposition to the ICC, which Netanyahu has attacked prior to now for “pure anti-Semitism”, will probably proceed. Moreover, at the very least within the short term, it’s unlikely that the United States will apply to its close ally, Israel, the identical pressure that it successfully applied to Serbia after Milosevic fell from power.
Kahn did not comment on reports of possible arrest warrants. Nevertheless, Israeli officials they went on the offensive in an apparent attempt to gain American support to prevent ICC motion.