 "Does ICC arrest warrant against Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu really matter?")
The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday issued arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas’s Military Chief Mohammed Deif, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the 13-month war in Gaza.
The development is historic for a body that has struggled for 22 years with a lack of recognition and enforcement power.
While global justice may be slow, experts believe it is not only about the verdict.
They say that the global community is committed to fighting impunity simply by prosecuting those suspected of committing atrocities.
Let’s take a closer look.
The pace of global justice is slow
The Hague-based jurisdiction, which is supported by 124 member states and will soon be joined by Ukraine, aims to bring criminal charges against those who commit the most serious crimes when nations are unable or unwilling to do so themselves.
However, as the court’s low conviction record shows, international justice moves slowly.
The ICC has opened 32 cases since it started functioning in 2002 for alleged crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide, and offences against the administration of justice.
Because the suspects are still at large, 14 cases, or around 40 per cent, are still pending.
The global court of justice is unlikely to apprehend them anytime soon without a police force.
Only 21 of the 56 arrest warrants that have been issued since 2002 have been executed.
The ICC relies on states to apprehend suspects, but the incentive for them to cooperate is low because the court has “nothing to offer in return, except a commitment to seeing justice served,” former ICC adviser Pascal Turlan said.
The court has listed Russian President Vladimir Putin on its wanted list for alleged war crimes connected to the invasion of Ukraine, and Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony.
Russia is among the dozens of countries, including the United States, Israel, and China, that do not recognise the ICC jurisdiction, which makes it difficult for the court to look into their citizens.
However, some member nations also ignore its authority, such as when they refuse to turn over suspects. Mongolia, a member of the ICC, welcomed Putin in early September.
“When states don’t like what the ICC does, they don’t often cooperate,” said Nancy Combs, a professor at William & Mary Law School in the US state of Virginia.
12 guilty verdicts
ICC spokesperson Fadi El Abdallah said the court’s role was not to go after all suspected war criminals but to “encourage nations to deal with their own cases.”
Every case has its own set of difficulties, such as witness intimidation and national government meddling, which led to the 2016 collapse of the case against Kenya’s then-deputy president William Ruto, who is currently the country’s president.
These difficulties explain the low conviction rate in the court.
Since its founding, it has handed down four acquittals and twelve guilty convictions, the majority of which have been against leading jihadists from Mali and authorities from the war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Uganda, Ivory Coast, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are among the African nations that have referred their citizens to the ICC, Combs said.
An ethical punch
The latest warrants by the ICC judges said there was reason to believe Netanyahu and Gallat have used “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid and have intentionally targeted civilians in Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza.
The action by the ICC came as the death toll from Israel’s campaign in Gaza killed 44,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants.
Notably, this is the first time the global court of justice has gone after a sitting leader of a Western-backed country, drawing the ire of Israel .
Netanyahu condemned the warrant against him, saying Israel “rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions” by the court. In a statement released by his office, he said, “There is nothing more just than the war that Israel has been waging in Gaza.”
Gallant said the decision “sets a dangerous precedent against the right to self-defence and more warfare and encourages murderous terrorism.”
Although it is unlikely that Netanyahu or Hamas leaders will face justice in The Hague anytime soon, they could face arrest if they travel to Britain, France or any of the dozens of other countries that recognise the ICC.
Even then, the chances of securing a conviction are slim.
Combs said however that ICC investigations could act as a deterrent and pack an ethical punch: “A lot of the point is to do what’s right even if you know that, in the short term, it’s probably not going to make a big difference.”
With inputs from AFP
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