23 May 2024 – International Criminal Justice

NPWJ press releases

Over 100 human rights and civil society groups call on Biden to support ICC independence
23 May 2024
On May 20, 2024, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced that he was seeking arrest warrants for three leaders of Hamas and two senior Israeli officials. Some members of the US Congress have threatened to retaliate against the International Criminal Court (ICC), including by imposing sanctions against court officers, if the court moves forward with arrest warrants against Israeli officials in its Palestine investigation.
In an open letter issued today, 121 human rights and civil society groups, including No Peace Without Justice, call on President Biden to oppose threats and calls for punitive actions against the ICC.

Cooperation, outreach and civil society engagement essential to give life to ICC Arrest Warrants
20 May 2024
Today, on 20 May 2024, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan issued the request for the first arrest warrants, for war crimes and crimes against humanity, in respect of the situation in the State of Palestine. The Office of the Prosecutor has requested warrants against three representatives of Hamas, for acts committed from at least 7 October 2023, and against two representatives of the State of Israel, for acts committed from at least 8 October 2023.
“No Peace Without Justice welcomes the fact that we are seeing some movement on the situation of Palestine, which has long been under investigation by the ICC,” said NPWJ President Tara O’Grady.
“We hope and trust that the Office of the Prosecutor remains committed to continued independent investigation of crimes under its jurisdiction committed since the first referral on 13 June 2014. It is a concern that apparent inaction by the ICC would have contributed to the political dynamics of impunity, drowning out voices for justice and accountability both in Israeli and Palestinian society.

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