Group calls on ICC to investigate Israel’s ‘crimes’
Russell Tribunal on Palestine also urges extraordinary session of UN apartheid committee to examine Israel
A Belgian-based human rights group urged the International Criminal Court on Sunday to investigate “crimes” committed by Israel in the Palestinian territories.
The Russell Tribunal on Palestine, an organization founded four years ago, said it would “support all initiatives from civil society and international organizations aimed at bringing Israel in front of the International Criminal Court.” It also called for a boycott on the import of goods produced in West Bank settlements.
On Sunday, the group wrapped up four years of investigations and meetings, and it presented 26 recommendations, which included “further criminal investigations of corporations aiding and abetting Israeli violations” and the “establishment of an international committee of former political prisoners to campaign on prisoner issues,” reported AFP.
The Russell Tribunal also criticized the United States, along with the EU and UN, for policies that were “complicit” in what it says are Israel’s violations of international law, according to the report.
The group additionally called for an extraordinary session of the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid, a framework set up in 1962 that laid the groundwork for international sanctions against South Africa, to investigate Israel.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told AFP: “They can write what they like, they only represent themselves. It’s a private body with no legal or political weight and has moral weight only among its members.”
He added, “It has no political or legal significance, it is an ideological and propaganda document that people write for their like-minded friends.”
Prominent members of the Russell Tribunal include American political activist Angela Davis and the founder of Pink Floyd, Roger Waters.
