Canadian Support for Israeli Genocide Brought to International Criminal Court
A trip made by five Canadian parliamentarians to Israel in support of the Zionists' atrocities in Gaza, has led to the International Criminal Court (ICC) being notified that these Members of Parliament may be guilty of aiding and abetting Israel's crimes.
The five MPs -- two Liberals and three Conservatives -- participated in a trip of some 60 people, organized by a number of Canadian Jewish federations in November 2023. The MPs were Anthony Housefather, Marco Mendocino, Melissa Lantsman, Michelle Rempel-Garner and Marty Morantz.
In a public statement, also sent to the ICC in The Hague, Montreal organization Palestinian and Jewish Unity (PAJU) stated that by traveling to Israel to lend their moral support to Israel's actions in Gaza, the five MPs "may be guilty of aiding and abetting what is being referred to by legal experts as a possible genocide in Gaza."
PAJU explains that the Rome Statute that established the ICC in 2002, "provides clear criteria in Articles 6, 7 and 8 as to the definition of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity respectively. It is clear that Israel has transgressed all three and will continue to do so as long as those public officials and institutions continue to support Israel's impunity. This is exactly what the five above-mentioned Canadian MPs will have done by travelling to Israel to publicly support its brutal and inhuman campaign. Hence, the five MPs must be investigated by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.
"It will be up to the ICC to determine if the five aforementioned MPs -- having publicly stated their support for Israel despite the evident war crimes of which it is guilty -- are themselves guilty of aiding and abetting those war crimes. As Canada is a signatory to the Rome Statute and is therefore bound by all of its articles, if found guilty of aiding and abetting Israel's war crimes, an arrest warrant must subsequently be issued by the ICC for the five Canadian MPs and a demand for their extradition to the ICC at The Hague, Netherlands be issued to the Minister of Justice of Canada.
"Be it noted that
there is no statute of limitations on acts
of
genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity. PAJU will
continue to
scrutinize all statements made by elected officials concerning
the
carnage in Gaza and will take the appropriate legal steps to see
to it
that the rule-of-law is
stringently respected. It should be noted that, in Canada, a
consortium
of lawyers have announced their intention to prosecute legal
claims
against Canadian government officials complicit with Israeli war
crimes
and have served four Canadian government ministers with legal
papers,
including Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau. Let all elected officials who represent
the
federal, provincial and municipal governments and their
adjoining
institutions govern themselves accordingly.
"PAJU considers that, given the severity of the possible charges which may be levied against the five aforementioned Members of Parliament and others who may have contravened international law regarding the question of support for the Israeli attacks on Gazan civilians and infrastructure, we advise the leaders of the political parties sitting in Canada's House of Commons -- copied on this letter of intent -- to share this press release with all Members of Canada's Parliament. We shall consider it their responsibility to do so."
Unlike the International Court of Justice, which operates only at the level of Member States of the UN and is part of the UN system, the ICC is not part of the UN system and can prosecute individuals.
Israel is not a signatory of the Rome Statute and thus is not bound by ICC rulings. Furthermore, the cases taken up and rulings issued by the ICC reflect the double standards of the imperialists as concerns matters of international relations, having never brought prosecution for war crimes against the U.S. or NATO countries, despite their war crimes being well documented.
Ultimately, holding the U.S. imperialists, NATO and those they support -- like Israel -- to account for war crimes is a matter that lies in the hands of the people and their actions to renew political arrangements and international relations.
This article was published in
Volume 54
Number 4 - January 12, 2024
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2024/Articles/MS54049.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca