ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan Accused of Double Standards in War Crimes Investigations: Israel vs. Russia-Ukraine

ICC prosecutor Karim Khan is considered to be applying double standards when it comes to war crimes committed by Israel in Palestine. This is different from the fast steps towards the case of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Photo/REUTERS

GAZA – A member of the legal team representing Gaza victims criticized International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan for applying double standards when it came to war crimes committed by Israel.

The ICC Prosecutor’s treatment is very different from Russia, which is accused of committing war crimes in Ukraine, where an arrest warrant has been issued against President Vladimir Putin.

“It is difficult to understand why prosecutors have remained silent regarding the mass murder of Palestinians and the wholesale destruction of civilian homes,” wrote Triestino Mariniello, a law professor at Liverpool John Moores University in England, in an article on the website Legal opinion.

“Even though it took the prosecutor only a year to identify real cases in the situation in Ukraine, he has not requested any arrest warrant or summons in connection with Palestine and Israel in the two and a half years since he was appointed June 16, 2021, inheriting an open investigation into the situation in Palestine than his predecessor,” he explained, as reported by Anadolu, Monday (8/1/2024).

“There are several things that suggest that the Palestinian situation will not be a priority for Khan before October 2023. It appears that no ICC investigator has ever visited Israel or the Palestinian territories,” he continued.

“The way prosecutors approach investigations [masalah] Palestine seems to be in stark contrast to the situation in Ukraine,” added Mariniello.

According to him, the ICC prosecutor was very skillful when handling the case of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“After the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion (in February 2022), Khan made several visits to Ukraine, attended press conferences, opened the court’s largest field office, deployed 42 investigators, opened an online portal to collect evidence, and raised an unprecedented amount of funds happened before from various countries,” explained Mariniello.

2024-01-08 01:15:22
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