LOC21:36
18:36 GMT
BRUSSELS, Sept 2 (KUNA) -- International Criminal Court Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, Tuesday rejected as "baseless" recent media reports and commentaries suggesting ICC has avoided opening an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by Israel in Gaza due to political pressure.
"As Prosecutor of the ICC, I reject this baseless allegation in the strongest terms. It is devoid of any merit," she said in a statement.
She clarified that the ICC Prosecutor has never been in a position to open such an investigation for lack of jurisdiction since Palestine has not joined the Rome Statute, the ICC's founding treaty.
"As Prosecutor, I can only investigate and prosecute crimes committed on the territory or by the nationals of states that have joined the ICC Statute or which have otherwise accepted the jurisdiction of the ICC," she noted.
The statement pointed out that on 29 November 2012, Palestine's status was upgraded by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) to "non-member observer State" and hence Palestine could now join the Rome Statute.
To date, the Rome Statute is not one of the treaties that Palestine has decided to accede to, nor has it lodged a new declaration following the November 2012 UNGA resolution, said Bensouda.
Palestinian leaders are in the process of consulting internally on whether to do so; the decision is theirs alone to make and the ICC Prosecutor cannot take this decision for them, she said.
The ICC's approach to Palestine will be no different if the Court's jurisdiction is ever triggered over the situation, added the statement. (end)
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