ICC: Prosecutor must rethink decision against Gaza flotilla probe

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Judges at the International Criminal Court reiterated Friday that the court’s prosecutor has to reconsider her decision not to investigate Israel’s May 2010 raid on a flotilla heading to the Gaza Strip.

The decision means Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda will now have to look at the politically charged case again and decide whether to open a full investigation, which could potentially lead to charges against Israelis involved in the storming of a ship.

Eight Turks and one Turkish-American were killed and several other pro-Palestinian activists were hurt in clashes with Israel Defense Forces troops that erupted when the army boarded the Mavi Marmara vessel, a member of the flotilla, in order to take it to an Israeli port.

The IDF said its soldiers acted in self-defense after they were attacked with lethal weapons. Several soldiers were seriously wounded in the clash.

Bensouda last year declined a request by the Indian Ocean island nation Comoros to investigate the storming of the vessel, which was sailing under a Comoros flag.

She said war crimes may have been committed on the Mavi Marmara, but ruled the case wasn’t serious enough to merit an ICC probe.

Judges first asked her to reconsider in July, saying she made “material errors in her determination of the gravity” of the case.

Bensouda appealed and her appeal was dismissed Friday by a 3-2 majority in the five-judge appeals chamber. The majority ruled that the appeal was inadmissible under the court’s rules.

Lawyers representing Comoros sought a review of Bensouda’s original rejection, saying that, “the interests of justice and fairness, which are the core of the ICC’s mandate, strongly militate in favor of the Prosecutor reconsidering her decision.”

Israel is not a member of the court.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press.