Maurice
Hirsch Adv. and Itamar Marcus | May 14, 2020
In a highly irregular tweet, the Prosecutor of
the International Criminal Court (ICC), Fatou Bensouda responded to the content
of Palestinian Media Watch’s recent report,
which demonstrated her improper collusion with the Palestinian Authority. Based
on numerous sources, PMW documented different
aspects of her interactions with them, including pictures from the meeting of
Bensouda with PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh. Among other things, PMW
cited statements of PLO official Saeb Erekat, who chairs a special PA committee
responsible for follow up with the court, which includes members of Hamas
and other Palestinian terrorists groups. Shtayyeh’s meeting cited above
with Bensouda, was after the prosecutor had already been notified that the PA
committee included members of Hamas. (See below.)
Specifically, she did not refute her contacts
with the Palestinians, nor did she relate to the fact that the special PA
committee headed by Saeb Erekat, whose purpose is to be the liaison with the
ICC, includes members of Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine – both internationally recognized terrorist groups. Both these terror
groups have unquestionably committed crimes for which they could be prosecuted
in the ICC.
She did not deny the allegation in the
Jordanian news report that she told PA officials that her application to the
court was a sham, submitted only to protect the “ICC's public image” or that
the decision of the court “is a foregone conclusion”.
Similarly, she
did not deny meeting with Palestinian PM Shtayyeh, who may himself be a suspect
in the criminal court as the one who is personally responsible for the payment
of financial rewards to terrorists. Bensouda herself has already confirmed that
by paying terrorists the PA has “encouraged and provided financial incentives for
the commission of violence through their provision of payments to the families
of Palestinians who were involved, in particular, in carrying out attacks
against Israeli citizens, and under the circumstances, the payment of such
stipends may give rise to Rome Statute crimes.” (ICC Prosecutor Report on
Preliminary Examination Activities, 2019)
In an interview with the Times of Israel after
submitting her original request to the court, Bensouda was asked: “The
PLO’s Saeb Erekat has said publically that the Palestinian committee dealing
with the ICC was made up of all Palestinian factions, including Hamas and the
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Did you or members of your
office meet with Hamas or PFLP representatives?” Bensouda responded:
“My office has not met with any individuals identified as representing Hamas or
the PFLP.” [Times of Israel, Jan. 13, 2020]
However, one month later, she violated that
pledge. When Bensouda met in February 2020 with PA Prime Minister Shtayyeh (see
picture above) it was already after she had been made aware that the PA
committee to the ICC included recognized terrorists. Why did the ICC prosecutor
agree to meet with Shtayyeh when she knew that the PA committee his government
established and represents is made up of known Hamas and PFLP terrorists? This
of course in addition to the fact that he is a potential defendant himself for
his own crimes of paying salaries to terrorists.
It’s time for the ICC prosecutor to publish a
serious response in which she doesn’t just claim impartiality and
professionalism, but in which she answers all the serious questions pointing to
collusion with the PA that PMW has raised.
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