(Atlantic) Eugene Kontorovich - The warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against Israel's prime minister and former defense minister represent many historic firsts. They would be the court's first prosecutions of leaders in a liberal Western democracy, and represent the first time anyone has been charged with the "crime of starvation"; the first time the court has accused a country of war crimes during a defensive war against an external invader; and the first prosecution of a non-member state at the bequest of a member that is not generally recognized as a state. The warrants also represent something entirely familiar: an international institution, created to serve high and noble purposes, succumbing to the temptation of pursuing an anti-Israel agenda, a phenomenon on routine display at the UN General Assembly and Human Rights Council. The charges are baseless as a matter of law and fact, issued by a court with no jurisdiction, alleging as crimes things that simply never happened, while ignoring settled international law and practice. The writer is a professor at George Mason University Law School.
2024-12-01 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive