France “ supports the International Criminal Court » whose prosecutor requested arrest warrants against Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, indicated the Quai d’Orsay on the night of Monday May 20 to Tuesday May 21.
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“ There France supports the International Criminal Court, its independence, and the fight against impunity in all situations », Wrote French diplomacy in a press release regarding these arrest warrants.
“ On October 7, France condemned the anti-Semitic massacres perpetrated by Hamas. This terrorist group has claimed responsibility for barbaric attacks against civilians, accompanied by acts of torture and sexual violence which it has itself documented, including by broadcasting and celebrating them. », Continues Paris.
Regarding Israel, “ France has been warning for many months about the imperative of strict compliance with international humanitarian law and in particular about the unacceptable nature of civilian losses in the Gaza strip and insufficient humanitarian access », Adds the press release. And to emphasize that a “lasting political solution” is the “only” way to “reestablish a horizon of peace”.
Read alsoICC prosecutor seeks arrest warrant for Netanyahu for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza
The French left welcomes
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said on Monday May 20 that he had requested arrest warrants against Benyamin Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for crimes such as “ deliberately starving civilians “, “ intentional homicide ” And “ extermination and/or murder » in connection with the Israeli operation in Gaza.
Karim Khan also requested warrants against three senior Hamas leaders – Ismaïl Haniyeh, Mohammed Deif and Yahya Sinouar – for notably ” extermination “, ” rape and other forms of sexual violence ” And ” hostage taking as a war crime “.
If Paris supports the ICC, American President Joe Biden defended Israel in the face of international justice, judging “ scandalous » the request for arrest warrants against Israeli leaders. His head of diplomacy, Antony Blinken, declared that the magistrate’s approach was “ a shame “. In France, several leaders of the left welcomed the ICC’s announcement on Monday.
The credibility of the “consolidated” International Criminal Court
By launching proceedings against the two camps involved in the war in Gaza, international justice is restoring its image, believes Master William Bourdon, a French lawyer specializing in international law. “ What is important is that justice requires those responsible for the most serious crimes to answer for these crimes, without being indexed to political agendas or the instrumentalizations which are so numerous in this tragedy. he explains to Marine de la Moissonnière of RFI’s international service.
“So what is being affirmed here is the courageous independence of the International Criminal Court. It gives considerable credit to international criminal justice at a time when it was increasingly under attack, when it was in a critical period. It restores the credibility of a justice system which increasingly embodied the illustration of the principle of double standards. A kind of justice with variable geometry which would have focused only on Africans. From no leader, even in Africa or elsewhere, denouncing it as a neocolonial instrument. But beyond that, if these arrest warrants are ratified, they will not only consolidate the credibility of the International Criminal Court but also multilateralism, at a time when it is so harshly and systematically attacked by populist leaders around the world. whole which, unfortunately, is spreading more and more. »