\n Several independent UN experts on Friday denounced attacks made against the International Criminal Court (ICC), particularly from Israel and the United States, which \"promote a culture of impunity\".\n<\/p>\n
\n \"It is distressing to see State officials threatening to retaliate against a Court for pursuing international justice,\" a statement by the experts said Friday.\n<\/p>\n
\n This came \"at a time when the world should unite to end the terrible bloodshed in Gaza and seek justice for those unlawfully killed, injured, traumatised, or taken hostage, since October 7\".\n<\/p>\n
\n Mandated by the Human Rights Council, the experts are part of the largest independent body in the UN human rights system but do not speak on behalf of the UN.\n<\/p>\n
\n Last week, the ICC itself launched a warning against \"individuals who threaten to retaliate\" against the tribunal or its staff saying such actions might constitute an \"offence against its administration of justice\".\n<\/p>\n
\n The caution came after reports suggested the ICC was preparing to issue arrest warrants to members of the Israeli government -- which could include Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- in connection with Israel's military operations in Gaza.\n<\/p>\n
\n Netanyahu said that a war crimes indictment of Israeli officials would be \"an outrage of historic proportions\", alleging that the ICC was \"trying to put Israel in the dock\".\n<\/p>\n
\n The ICC opened a probe in 2021 into Israel, as well as Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups, over possible war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories.\n<\/p>\n
\n The investigation now \"extends to the escalation of hostilities and violence since the (Hamas) attacks that took place on October 7, 2023\" in Israel.\n<\/p>\n
\n The unprecedented attacks resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.\n<\/p>\n
\n Militants also seized hostages, of whom Israel estimates 128 remain in Gaza, including 36 who the military says are dead.\n<\/p>\n
\n Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 34,943 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.\n<\/p>\n
\n The ICC is the world's only independent court set up to probe the gravest offences by individual suspects, including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Several independent UN experts on Friday denounced attacks made against the International Criminal Court (ICC), particularly from Israel and the United States, which \"promote a culture of impunity\". \"It is distressing to see State officials threatening to retaliate against a Court for pursuing international justice,\" a statement by the experts said Friday. This came \"at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-131812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n