Egypt Daily News – The International Criminal Court called on its member states to cooperate in implementing the arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Galant.
Court spokesman Fadi Al-Abdullah said on Monday that member states of the Rome Statute are obligated to cooperate with the court in accordance with Chapter Nine of the system regarding the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant. As for countries that do not join the system, they can choose to cooperate voluntarily with the court.
Al-Abdullah explained in an interview with the Palestinian News Agency (Wafa) that after issuing the arrest warrant, the court asks the countries on whose territories the suspects are to cooperate with the court, pointing out that the court’s judges can, in the event of a violation of the obligation of cooperation by a state party to the Rome Statute, refer it to the Assembly of States Parties to take such action as the Assembly finds appropriate.
A spokesman for the court, which is based in the Dutch city of The Hague, pointed out that the arrest orders are the beginning of the preliminary stage in a case, and mean that “the judges considered that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the suspects are responsible for the crimes charged against them.”
He pointed out that the trial stage is a later stage and trials cannot be conducted in absentia according to the court system, but rather the persons required for this must be present.
Regarding the possibility of opening an office for the International Criminal Court in the Middle East similar to the office it opened in Ukraine, Al-Abdullah said that the issue of opening offices is linked to practical developments that may or may not require it, “so it is too early for us to determine the necessity of opening an office in the Middle East or not.”
A few days ago, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant for crimes against humanity and war crimes. The arrest warrants issued by the court are considered binding on more than 100 countries, a large number of which maintain relations with Israel.
The crimes attributed to the Israeli prime minister and former defense minister include “using starvation as a weapon of war,” “murder and persecution,” and “inhumane acts.”
This means that Netanyahu and Gallant will not be able from now on to visit the 120 signatory countries of the “Rome Treaty” on which the court relies to implement its decisions.
