With Karim Khan’s dismissal, the elimination of the war crimes court is near-complete.

 

Jonathan Cook

@Jonathan_K_Cook

The ICC war crimes court claims its work will not be affected by Karim Khan’s removal as chief prosecutor and that the arrest warrant against Netanyahu will still be pursued under new stewardship. That seems doubtful. Israel and the US are cranking up the intimidation of the ICC, which has no tools – beyond the support of members states – to enforce its rulings or protect itself from the hostility of a rogue superpower. Currently the court appears paralysed, allowing Israel to muddy the waters with interminable, and vexatious, appeals against the arrest warrants. Any lawyer who takes up the post of ICC chief prosecutor will be only too aware of the fate that befell Khan and the campaign of intimidation against his predecessor, Fatou Bensouda, as soon as each tried to enforce accountability on Israel and its western patrons. It will take a very brave individual indeed to renew that task. Khan’s successor will understand that, in any further confrontation with Israel and Washington, the US will not hesitate to crush the ICC and, with it, remove the only effective restraint on criminality by powerful states. More likely, however, the Assembly of States Parties – the political body that ousted Khan – will privately require from his successor reassurances that the new chief prosecutor reliably defer to the principle of Israeli and western impunity. Only someone less willing to ruffle feathers stands any chance of being appointed. That was the clearest of messages sent by the Assembly when a majority of member states voted to be rid of Khan. The short-lived experiment in creating a mechanism for enforcing international law is over. We are back to the law of the jungle. Hundred of thousands of people around the world – more likely millions – will now find themselves even more exposed to the criminal actions of predatory states. Unlike Khan’s accuser, they are unlikely to ever get their day in court. This is an extract from my latest article With Karim Khan’s dismissal, the elimination of the war crimes court is near-complete.