KUALA LUMPUR – Renowned human rights lawyer Amal Clooney has published an expert report supporting the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) applications for arrest warrants in the ongoing Israel-Palestine war.
Clooney was part of a distinguished panel of international legal experts tasked with evaluating evidence of suspected war crimes and crimes against humanity in the region.
Clooney, alongside other experts, engaged in a comprehensive review and legal analysis at the ICC in The Hague, which led to the ICC taking a significant step by filing applications for arrest warrants against key figures – including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The panel’s findings were unanimous, concluding that the court has jurisdiction over crimes committed in Palestine by Israeli leaders and Palestinian nationals.
“We unanimously conclude that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity including starvation as a method of warfare, murder, persecution and extermination,” she said in a statement.
The report also asserted that Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, and Ismail Haniyeh are responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including hostage-taking, murder, and sexual violence.
Clooney, who is the wife of Hollywood star George Clooney, emphasised the importance of the rule of law and the protection of civilian lives.
“As a human rights lawyer, I will never accept that one child’s life has less value than another’s. I do not accept that any conflict should be beyond the reach of the law nor that any perpetrator should be above the law,” she said.
“So I support the historic step that the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has taken to bring justice to victims of atrocities in Israel and Palestine.”
The panel, which includes two former judges from criminal tribunals in The Hague and several special advisers appointed by ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan, conducted an extensive evidence review.
Khan’s office has previously faced pressure from US Republican senators threatening severe sanctions if arrest warrants were issued against Israeli officials, citing threats to sovereignty.
Clooney, the co-founder of the Clooney Foundation for Justice, hopes that witnesses will cooperate with the ongoing investigation, and she remains optimistic that justice will be served in a region plagued by conflict. – May 20, 2024
