The SNP is urging the Labour UK government to act immediately to
re-write the morally corrupt decision of their predecessors,
which sought to block the ICC arrest warrants for suspected war
criminals, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defence Minister
Yoav Gallant.
The deadline for the UK to withdraw its amicus curae submission
to the ICC is today (Friday 26th of July). If the UK
continues with this submission to undermine the application for
arrest warrants, the ICC investigation into war crimes and crimes
against humanity will be hindered and significantly
delayed.
Almost 40,000 innocent Palestinians have now been killed by the
Israeli bombardment of Gaza, a military assault directed by
Netanyahu and Gallant.
Commenting, SNP MP said:
"There are very few moments in history where a single decision
can be seen as this pivotal. Netanyahu, who has directed the
destruction and death of nearly 40,000 innocent Palestinians,
including over 16,000 children, the wiping out of every
university and hospital in Gaza, the direct attack of
humanitarians and UN designated safe zones, and the intentional
starvation of millions of displaces families, has just been
hosted and celebrated in the US Congress.
"The warped abandonment of the law and fundamental standards of
human rights is something that myself, and the SNP, simply cannot
sit by and idly watch happen.
"If suspected war criminals can be welcomed as heroes, whilst at
the very same time there is not a single child in Gaza who has
not lost a member of their family - then where will this end?
"Labour has a choice to make, and I would argue, a very simple
one. The ICC must be supported and the applications for arrest
warrants must be allowed to proceed. If not, the UK government is
signalling that it will follow in the Tories footsteps and fail
to take steps to end the impunity for perpetrators of the
collective punishment of the Palestinian people."
ENDS
Full text of Brendan O'Hara's letter to the Foreign
Secretary:
"Dear Foreign Secretary,
I am writing to you today as there is an incredibly time
sensitive matter which you must address. Ahead of your transition
into Government you made it clear that you would drop the
previous governments amicus curae observations to the ICCs
application for arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav
Gallant.
With Netanyahu's welcome by Congress this week, the warped and
dystopian acceptance by the international community of a
suspected war criminal and proponent of collective punishment,
mass starvation, ethnic cleansing, and the death of nearly 40,000
civilians, beggars belief. It is not something that myself, my
party, or indeed the Scottish and British public, will sit idle
by, and watch unfold.
Labour must act now to undo the Tories' morally corrupt
legacy.
On the 23rd of June 2024, you claimed that you believed in
the ‘rules based order' and that in the event that the ICC
succeeded in their application for arrest warrants, that you
would seek to implement them.
Following this, on the 27th of June 2024, The Chamber declared
that the UK must file written observations with the Court by the
12th of July 2024. If, as you had claimed, you were intent
on the full support of the ICC and their application for these
arrest warrants and the ultimate goal of ending the impunity for
war crimes and the death of over 38,000 innocent Palestinian
civilians, then it should have been a top priority for you on
your first day in your new role.
However, on the 10th of July – five days after you assumed your
position as Foreign Secretary - the UK submitted it's Written
Observations to the Chamber, and in doing so reaffirmed the
entrenched the position that the UK does not believe that
Netanyahu and Gallant deserve to be held accountable for their
crimes.
To cement the lack of appreciation for this serious display of
dismantling the international rules based order by continuing
with the application is the fact that the UK Government attempted
to submit these observations secretly. I must assume that this
was fuelled by shame at the conscious decision by the government
to undermine the very institution seeking to ensure the
protection of innocent Palestinian lives.
Foreign Secretary, you are in a unique position to change, and
rewrite, the heartless decisions made by your predecessor.
Decisions which systematically sought to undermine the
international rules based order and the rule of law by which we
are all dependent on for protection in times of atrocity and
conflict. Given the fragile geopolitical climate with which you
are navigating your new position, and your background as a
lawyer, I would have assumed that you would take all
opportunities to uphold and promote the rule of law and
fundamentality of international legal institutions.
Now, your decision not to withdraw the amicus curae application
has implications on the subsequent arrest warrant application for
the Chamber. I fear that it will set the tone for your ability to
credibly argue for the resolve of Israel's continued bombardment
of Gaza and the ending of impunity for those who have
intentionally caused innocent civilians to starve to death and
bombed them indiscriminately.
Additionally, given that the UK delegation to the UNSC last week
voted for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, a position that the SNP
have been advocating for since the outset of this brutality, I am
concerned that mixed messages are being sent to the international
community regarding where Labour stands on the future of Gaza and
international law. This is even more apparent as you now have the
ability and power to recognise the State of Palestine – a move
which you have made clear you wish to do – and have not yet done
so.
We are witnessing systematic war crimes against the Palestinians
in real time, and as the new Foreign Secretary of the UK, you
have an absolutely crucial role to play in what will shape the
future of global peace and security, and our regard for human
life.
I await confirmation that you will indeed be asserting to the ICC
immediately your desire to withdraw the amicus curae written
observations, and to confirm that you support the application for
arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant.
Yours sincerely,
MP"
