MADRID Jan. 11 (EUROPA PRESS) –
A group of United Nations experts has urged the United States Senate to reject a bill that seeks to sanction officials of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in response to the arrest warrants issued by the ICC against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, for alleged war crimes in Gaza.
“It is shocking to see a country that considers itself a defender of the rule of law trying to obstruct the actions of an independent and impartial court created by the international community, to frustrate accountability,” they detailed.
Experts have expressed concern about the implications of the law, approved in the US House of Representatives, which seeks to sanction anyone involved in investigating or prosecuting officials from the US or allied countries, such as Israel, before the ICC.
“The approval of a bill that creates a blind spot for justice with respect to certain countries not only legalizes double standards and impunity, but irreparably undermines the spirit of universality on which the international justice system is built,” they have said.
They have also reiterated that “international standards establish that lawyers and justice personnel must be able to carry out all their professional functions without intimidation, obstacles, harassment or undue interference.”
“We urge American legislators to defend the rule of law and the independence of judges and lawyers, and we call on States to respect the independence of the Court as a judicial institution and protect the independence and impartiality of those who work on it,” they have denounced.
The text was approved on Thursday with the support of Republicans and a good part of the centrist Democratic wing, which considers that the ICC does not have jurisdiction to issue arrest warrants against Israeli officials.
The bill calls for sanctions on any court official or those individuals who support the ICC in its efforts to “investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute” a US citizen or an allied country who is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, according to ‘The Hill’.
Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune has pledged to bring the legislation to the Senate floor. This measure was already promoted last year by the Republicans, although it did not go ahead due to the then Democratic majority in the US Upper House.
Last November, the ICC issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated within the framework of the military offensive launched against the Gaza Strip after the previous Hamas attacks on October 7. 2023, in which almost 1,200 people died and another 240 were kidnapped.
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