Ban Ki-moon: Palestine will Join ICC on April 1

Local Editor

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said late Tuesday that the state of Palestine would join the International Criminal Court on April 1, a high-stakes move that will enable the Palestinians to pursue war-crimes charges against "Israel".

The Palestinians submitted the documents ratifying the Rome Statute that established the court last Friday, the last formal step to accepting the jurisdiction of the world's permanent war crimes tribunal. The UN said the secretary-general would review the paperwork.

In a statement posted on the UN's treaty website, the secretary-general announced his acceptance of the documents saying "the statute will enter into force for the State of Palestine on April 1, 2015" in accordance with the court's procedures. He said he was "acting in his capacity as depositary" for the documents of ratification.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas signed documents to join the ICC a day after the UN Security Council rejected a resolution on Dec. 30 that would have set a three-year deadline for the establishment of a Palestinian state on lands occupied by the Zionist entity.

Joining the ICC is part of a broader Palestinian strategy to pressure "Israel" into withdrawing from the territories and agreeing to Palestinian statehood.

The Palestinian decision to join the ICC has already sparked retaliation from "Israel" which froze the transfer of more than $100 million in tax funds collected for the Palestinians on Saturday. It promised tougher action on Sunday.

Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour said last week that the Palestinians are seeking to raise alleged crimes committed by "Israel", including during last summer's aggression against Gaza. He said the Palestinians will also seek justice for "Israeli" settlements on Palestinian territory, which he said constitute "a war crime" under the Rome statute.

The ICC said the Palestinians submitted a document to the court's registrar, Herman von Hebel, in The Hague, Netherlands on Jan. 1 stating that Palestine accepts the jurisdiction of the ICC starting June 13 - about a month before the Gaza war started.

The International Criminal Court was created to prosecute individual perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. Palestine will become the 123rd member.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team