(Jerusalem Post) Col. Richard Kemp - The International Criminal Court should be an important part of the international rule of law. The court's founding Rome Statute allows investigations only within the sovereign territories of state parties to the treaty. But ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has unlawfully accepted delegated jurisdiction over the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza from what she calls the "State of Palestine," despite the fact that Palestine is not a state and never has been. The ICC was not established to replace national judicial systems but to complement them - to act only where states themselves lack the capability or will to conduct their own investigations and prosecutions. Israel has a long-established and internationally-respected legal system. The U.S., never a party to the ICC, is rightly defending itself against the court. Other Western countries should now leave the ICC and defund it. This would force the court to act as the Rome Statute intended, dealing only with member states without functioning judiciaries that are unable to apply international law themselves. The writer is a former commander of British forces in Afghanistan.
2020-05-05 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive