The Prosecutor mandated to oversee the Occupied
Palestinian Territory for the International Criminal
Court (ICC) stated on
Wednesday that her office is keeping “a close eye” on the planned
demolition of a Palestinian village in the West Bank by Israeli
authorities, warning that, according to international law, it
could constitute a “war crime”.
“I have been following with concern the planned eviction of the
Bedouin community of Khan al-Ahmar, in the West Bank,” said
Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, noting that “evacuation by force now
appears imminent” and could result in “further escalation and
violence”.
Approximately 190 herders, half of whom are children, live in
Khan al-Ahmar, a village located in the outskirts of East
Jerusalem. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the village is
one of dozens affected by an Israeli settlement reorganization
plan that would create a continuous built-up area from East
Jerusalem to Jericho.
“The problem if it happens in all of these [villages], is that
then the contiguity and the possibility of a two-State solution
will be challenged because the West Bank will be cut in
half,” Jamie McGoldrick, the UN
Humanitarian Coordinator explained to UN News in an interview on
Tuesday.
“It bears recalling, as a general matter,” said the ICC
Proscutor, “that extensive destruction of property without
military necessity and population transfers in an occupied
territory constitute war crimes under the Rome Statute.”
According to OCHA’s latest Protection of Civilians
report, over 300 Palestinian-owned structures have been
demolished in 2018 alone.
Ms. Bensouda reminded all parties that the situation remains
under preliminary examination by her Office, mandated with
conducting independent and impartial preliminary examinations,
investigations and prosecutions of the crime of genocide, crimes
against humanity, war crimes and aggression.
“I continue to keep a close eye on the developments on the ground
and will not hesitate to take any appropriate action, within the
confines of the independent and impartial exercise of my mandate
under the Rome Statute, with full respect for the principle of
complementarity,” she stated.
The complementarity principle on which the ICC is based entails
that the ICC can only investigate and prosecute core
international crimes when national jurisdictions are unable or
unwilling to do so genuinely.
