UN’s Albanese slams states that let Netanyahu fly over airspace for US trip

Rome Statute signatories Italy, France and Greece accused of ‘violating’ planetary ineligible bid by letting alleged warfare transgression alert implicit territory.

Francesca Albanese, the United Nations peculiar rapporteur connected the quality rights concern successful the occupied Palestinian territory, has deed retired astatine countries that allowed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to alert implicit their airspace en way to the United States, suggesting that they whitethorn person flouted their obligations nether planetary law.

Albanese said connected Wednesday that the governments of Italy, France and Greece needed to explicate wherefore they provided “safe passage” to Netanyahu, who they were theoretically “obligated to arrest” arsenic an internationally wanted fishy erstwhile helium flew implicit their territory connected his mode to conscionable United States President Donald Trump connected Sunday for talks.

All 3 countries are signatories of the Rome Statute, the pact that established The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) successful 2002, which past twelvemonth issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and erstwhile Israeli defence curate Yoav Gallant for warfare crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated during Israel’s warfare connected Gaza.

“Italian, French and Greek citizens merit to cognize that each governmental enactment violating the int’l ineligible order, weakens and endangers each of them. And each of us,” Albanese wrote connected X.

Albanese was responding to a station by quality rights lawyer Craig Mokhiber, who had said the erstwhile time that the countries had “breached their ineligible obligations nether the pact [Rome Statute], person declared their disdain for the victims of genocide, and person demonstrated their contempt for the regularisation of law”.

Netanyahu’s sojourn to the US, during which helium and Trump discussed the forced displacement of Palestinians amid his country’s ongoing ceasefire negotiations with Hamas, was not his archetypal sortie since the ICC issued the warrant for his arrest.

In February, Netanyahu travelled to the US, which is not enactment to the Rome Statute, becoming the archetypal overseas person to conscionable Trump aft his January inauguration.

Then, successful April, Netanyahu visited Hungary’s person Viktor Orban successful Budapest, the second having extended his invitation conscionable 1 time aft the ICC issued the apprehension warrant, withdrawing the country’s ICC rank up of the Israeli leader’s arrival.

From Hungary, Netanyahu past flew to the US for a gathering with Trump, his level flying 400km (248 miles) further than the mean way to avoid the airspace of respective countries that could enforce an apprehension warrant, according to Israel’s Haaretz newspaper.

Member states of the ICC are expected to instrumentality subjects of apprehension warrants into custody if those individuals are connected their territory.

In practice, the rules are not ever followed. For instance, South Africa, a subordinate of the court, did not apprehension Sudan’s then-leader Omar al-Bashir during a 2017 visit, contempt an ICC warrant against him.

European Union countries person been divided connected the ICC warrant issued for Netanyahu.

Some said past twelvemonth they would conscionable their ICC commitments, portion Italy has said determination were ineligible doubts. France has said it believes Netanyahu has immunity from ICC actions.

Source:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies