Worldwide Legal Courtroom Prosecutor Karim Khan.
DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP by way of Getty Photos
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DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP by way of Getty Photos
Worldwide Legal Courtroom Prosecutor Karim Khan.
DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP by way of Getty Photos
When 1000’s of pagers and walkie-talkies exploded all through Lebanon final week, it was successful for the planners of the assault.
Was it additionally a battle crime, with dozens of individuals killed and a few 3,000 folks injured?
That kind of query, together with the entire ensuing questions on whether or not to prosecute, the way to prosecute, falls to Karim Khan, the lead prosecutor for the Worldwide Legal Courtroom, which was arrange twenty years in the past to research battle crimes and crimes in opposition to humanity.
As for saying whether or not the assault constitutes a battle crime, Khan says he cannot reply.
“I need to be very disciplined, in terms of what I say. We don’t have jurisdiction in relation to Lebanon. Lebanon is not a state party, unlike Palestine. We’re focusing on situations that are clearly, we say, within our jurisdiction.”
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Prosecuting the Israel/Hamas battle
Again in Might, the ICC utilized for arrest warrants in opposition to leaders of Hamas, and Israeli leaders Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Protection Minister Yoav Gallant.
Final week, Israel’s overseas ministry filed a petition to attraction the warrant, and the overseas ministry says that the ICC didn’t, “provide Israel with the opportunity to exercise its right to investigate by itself the claims raised by the prosecutor before proceeding.”
Does Khan agree with that evaluation?
“Well, no is the short answer. I’ve said it repeatedly, publicly, that we’re investigating, only the crimes alleged against Hamas but also that Israel and leaders in Israel have responsibilities to comply with international law,” Khan informed Think about This host Mary Louise Kelly.
“I was investigating, and there was no applications by Israel since 2021 until today. But we’ll deal with the filings in the normal way. It would only be right to respond first to the judges.”
Different main leaders have additionally criticized this transfer, specifically President Biden, who has known as the appliance for warrants in opposition to Israeli leaders ‘outrageous’ and mentioned that they implied an equivalence between Hamas and Israel.
“You know, U.S. values make it clear that every individual has rights. The United States doesn’t say Hispanics or Blacks or whites or people from the East Coast or West Coast have different rights. I say the same thing,” Khan mentioned.
“As an officer of the court, the umbrella of the law should apply equally. And I have just as much compassion for Kfir Bibas, who was a 10-month-old snatched from a kibbutz that I visited and taken by Hamas, as I do for children 10 months old or younger or older that have also died in Gaza.”
different international crises.
Final month, Khan addressed the U.N. Safety Council relating to the civil battle in Sudan that has additionally led to a humanitarian disaster involving hunger and mass demise and displacement.
He mentioned the ICC isn’t and by no means has been a silver bullet, and that to resolve crises of the world, it requires the assist of states. So what assist is required?
“After the horrors of the second world war, we gave a promise of never again. How do we build that confidence if there’s not a proper solution in Darfur? At the moment, people are being hunted down and killed because of the color of their skin and because of a sense of impunity that has built up over 20 years. We don’t have a police force. We don’t have military. We need states to live up to their responsibilities – that’s, first and foremost, Sudan,” Khan mentioned.
“And then also, African Union, the United Nations and powerful states, including the United States of America, the European Union – everybody should care that the allegations are so horrendous of famine, of starvation, of rape on a big scale. We need that support in terms of enforcement, and we haven’t seen it,” he added.
This episode was produced by Megan Lim and Vincent Acovino, with audio engineering by Neil Tevault, with assist from Ted Mebane and David Greenburg. It was edited by Tinbete Ermyas, Nick Spicer, Patrick Jarenwattananon and Courtney Dorning. Our government producer is Sami Yenigun.
