Nowhere to run: Palestine law group continues pursuit of Israel war criminals

The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) are going after alleged British-Israeli war criminals. They’ve now started a process to “prosecute a dual national British-Israeli citizen”. The individual “is alleged to have committed the offence of enlisting in the service of a foreign state”. The ICJP say that is contrary to Section 4 of the Foreign Enlistment Act 1870.

In a press release on 23 October, ICJP said:

The individual is suspected to have served in the Lebanese border unit in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), followed by service in the West Bank. As a British-Israeli, the individual has no legal obligations to serve in the IDF and instead, appears to have done so voluntarily.

Israel war criminals

The ICJP is using a very interesting argument to bring the case forward. It hinges on an old act concerning serving a foreign state. And, they’re using the idea that Palestine is technically a “friendly state” to the UK:

ICJP’s submission, which was drafted by senior King’s Counsel, includes evidence of violations of the FEA and expert evidence supporting the breaches. Section 4 of the Foreign Enlistment Act (33 & 34 Vict. c. 90) makes it an offence for a British subject to accept any engagement in ‘the military or naval service’ of a foreign state which is at war with a friendly state.

Palestine is a party to the Rome Statute, the treaty which established the International Criminal Court (ICC):

since 1 April 2015, reaffirmed by a decision by the Pre-Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court on 5 February 2021.

The key detail:

Palestine is a friendly state to the United Kingdom, as the UK government recognises its statehood, and the two countries are not at war.

Offences “are triable on Indictment and punishable with a maximum of two years imprisonment”.  There is no time limit for the act.

More to come?

The prosecution will be a private one. The ICJP say this was “in potential breach of the Foreign Enlistment Act”.

These individuals include both British citizens and dual-national British-Israeli citizens.

ICJP’s Head of Legal Mutahir Ahmed said:

In line with ICJP’s Global 195 campaign, this is a significant step in holding suspected war criminals accountable within domestic jurisdictions for offences that they have committed outside of their home countries.

War criminals must be held accountable for their role in the genocide, from the most senior generals to the most junior foot soldier.

The road to justice in the wake of war and genocide is long. In regard to Rwanda and the Balkan wars,  cases committed in the 1990s were still being heard in the 2010s. The case of one 100yr old alleged Nazi prison guard was still underway in 2024.

In recent weeks, a case was filed at the ICC on the IDF killing of 5yr old Hind Rajab. And the ICC rejected an Israeli appeal against the arrest warrants for senior leaders like Benyamin Netanyahu.

Accordingly, as more cases start to arrive in the courts, Israel’s impunity looks a little less assured.

Featured image via the Canary