- Title: ICC-ISRAEL/TURKEY ICC won't investigate Israel's 2010 raid on Turkish Flotilla
- Date: 6th November 2014
- Summary: THE HAGUE, THE NETHERLANDS (RECENT, 2014) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT CHIEF PROSECUTOR, FATOU BENSOUDA, ENTERING THE COURTHOUSE
- Embargoed: 21st November 2014 12:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA97X8DIMUY55G2RUCPPE60SH5V
- Story Text: The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor said on Thursday (November 6) she believes Israeli soldiers may have committed war crimes during a raid that killed nine Turkish activists in 2010, but has decided the case is beyond the courts remit.
The move by lawyers at the International Criminal Court is likely to enrage Ankara, which accused its erstwhile ally Israel of mass murder, after the commandos abseiled onto a flotilla challenging an Israeli naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.
"I have concluded that there is a reasonable basis to believe that war crimes under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court were committed on one of the vessels, the Mavi Marmara, when Israeli Defense Forces intercepted the "Gaza Freedom Flotilla'' on 31 May 2010," said Icc Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda.
"However, after carefully assessing all relevant considerations, I have concluded that the potential case(s) likely arising from an investigation into this incident would not be of sufficient gravity to justify further action by the court," she added.
In a court document seen by Reuters prosecutors said they had reached these conclusions on the basis of publicly available information.
Bensouda said she may reconsider in light of new facts or evidence.
"Under the Rome Statute, the referring States, and in this case, the Union of Comoros, also has the right to request the ICC judges to review my decision not to proceed to open an investigation," she said.
The decision not to open an investigation will disappoint activists who have repeatedly attempted to involve the Hague-based human rights court in the world's most controversial conflict.
The court has no jurisdiction over crimes in Turkey or Israel, since neither is a member of the court. However, one of the vessels, the Mavi Marmara, was registered to the Comoros Islands, which is an ICC member.
It was the Indian Ocean state that referred the raid to the court, leaving prosecutors no choice under the court's statute but to begin a preliminary examination.
Comoros is represented in the affair by Elmadag, a Turkish law firm, and many critics, especially in Israel, charged Comoros with doing the Turkish activists' bidding by making the referral.
The Hague-based tribunal was set up to look into the gravest international atrocities, including crimes against humanity and genocide, when local authorities are either unwilling or unable to investigate and try them.
Lawyers representing the Comoros government said they would apply to judges for a review of the decision not to proceed.
The court declined two years ago to investigate allegations against the Israeli military in 2008-2009, citing the uncertain legal status of the Palestinian Authority, which at the time had not been recognised by the U.N. General Assembly as a sovereign state.
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