The Canadian-born journalist Jacob Flickinger and the U.S.-Israel War Crimes Act : Bringing justice for victims of war crimes in Ukraine
This week, a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen, Jacob Flickinger, was killed by an Israeli airstrike on a convoy of vehicles from the humanitarian group World Central Kitchen. Australia, Poland, Palestine and the UK were also killed. At least one of the vehicles had the organization’s logo on the roof.
War crimes prosecutions need resources and political will according to the executive director of the Center for Justice and Accountability. And she acknowledged that investigating and prosecuting Israeli forces would be tricky, but — if the evidence supports it — taking that step would deliver a powerful message.
It would be a signal that the War Crimes Act is for everyone if the U.S. could do that. “And it really does what it says on the box, which is provide justice for victims of war crimes. Everywhere.”
Scheffer said the Justice Department is not preventing them from looking at the issue, whether or not it be perpetrators of Israeli citizenship or Palestinian identity.
Source: DOJ takes a stand against war crimes in Ukraine. In Gaza war, it’s been nearly silent
The U.S. Civil Liberties in the Israel-Hamas Conflict: Implications for the United States and for the Security and Security Services
Many U.S. citizens are caught up in the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Some 600 Americans were trapped in Gaza before the conflict began, but many of them have left. The Israeli military, meanwhile, says an estimated 23,380 Americans are currently serving in its ranks.
The involvement of a US citizen would make it easier to pursue a case involving a close ally of the U.S.
“I think it would be easier for the victims to be American citizens, and that’s right,” Scheffer said. That’s a lot easier for the Justice Department.
The U.S. has only brought one case to date under the U.S. war crimes statute –the prosecution in December against the four Russian soldiers for allegedly abducting and torturing and American civilians in southern Ukraine.
In speeches and news conferences, including on a surprise visit to Ukraine in June 2022, Garland condemned Russia’s military onslaught and the “war crimes that the entire world has seen.” The attorney general has repeatedly pledged that the Justice Department would do all it could to hold the perpetrators accountable.
“The United States views its interests as allied with the Ukrainians, which has resulted in a game-changer,” said Sadat, who was a special adviser to the International Criminal Court prosecutor. “What’s changed with Ukraine is we now have some political will and we have some staffing in the Justice Department to actually be able to do these cases.”
Less than six months after the conflict began, Garland has said just 29 words about possible war crimes. When he was asked at a news conference where he stood on war crimes involving Hamas, he said he was in the case against the Russians.
NPR wanted to know if the Justice Department was going to investigate war crimes in the Israel-Hamas conflict. The department declined to comment.
A new law that authorized prosecutors to bring charges against suspected war criminals regardless of their nationalities was passed by Congress in response to the Ukranian war.
Scheffer said that he believed the Israeli Defense Force could be seen as committing war crimes. “It depends, of course, on the evidence.”
The majority of those killed in the surprise attack by Hamas were civilians. The militants also took more than 200 hostages, some 130 of whom are still in captivity.
If the U.S.designated Hamas a terrorist group, prosecutors would have a chance to charge the group’s fighters with terrorism instead of war crimes.
Legal experts say that there are grounds for the Justice Department to look at the actions of Israel in the war.
“The use of firepower by the Israeli Defense Forces has its legitimacy,” Scheffer said. How is that being done? What is the precise impact on civilians? What is the decision-making and how it’s used by the Israeli Defense Forces? All of that is up for scrutiny.”
UN experts also have expressed alarm over reports of Palestinian women being subjected to extrajudicial killings, sexual assault and other inhumane treatment by Israeli forces. Israel is not responsible for the allegations.
Source: DOJ takes a stand against war crimes in Ukraine. In Gaza war, it’s been nearly silent
The UN’s top human rights body called on Israel to stop selling weapons to Israel in the Gazan conflict and condemn Israel’s “humanitarian disaster”
According to Sadat, if there were political will to prosecute, the Justice Department could do a wide range of investigations and prosecutions.
“You would have no access right now to Gaza unless you got access through Israeli cooperation,” Sadat said. If you were investigating Israelis, I don’t think they’d cooperate very well.
In some instances, the Pentagon and State Department are also allowed to weigh in on the potential benefits or adverse consequences for Americans, U.S. officials or troops of pursuing such a prosecution.
The UN’s top human rights body called Friday for countries to stop selling weapons to Israel in order to prevent the use of excessive force against Palestinians in Gaza.
The sweeping measure takes aim at an array of Israeli actions such as impeding access to water and limiting shipments of humanitarian aid into Palestinian areas. It also calls on U.N.-backed independent investigators to report on shipments of weapons, munitions and “dual use” items — that have both civilian and military applications — that could be used by Israel against Palestinians.
Western countries were divided. The U.S. and Germany opposed the resolution, France and Japan abstained, while Belgium, Finland and Luxembourg voted in favor.
The ambassador from the Palestine in the area decried the “humanitarian disaster” in Gaza, and appealed to envoys to wake up and stop the bloodshed.
“This council has long abandoned the Israeli people and long defended Hamas,” Meirav Eilon Shahar said of the militant group behind the attacks. “It has become a shield for terrorists. It has turned a blind eye to any acts of violence against Israelis and Jews.”
She was upset that some European countries supported a resolution that did not condemn Hamas.
She told reporters afterwards that Israel was in the resolution 59 times. “Hamas isn’t there at all.”
“We have been paying the price of what is done during the Second World War, but we didn’t kill Jews in Europe last century,” said Khraishi in Arabic.
U.S. Action on Israel’s Interaction with Israel during the Second World War: The Israel-Bias Agenda and the War on Refugees
Israel has criticized the council for its alleged anti-Israel bias. The council has approved far more resolutions against Israel than against any other country.
The council is wrapping up its first session of the year, which began on Feb. 26, with action on more than 40 resolutions on subjects as diverse as the rights of the child; the environment and human rights; genocide prevention; and rights situations in countries like Sudan, Belarus and North Korea.
In a sign of Washington’s growing impatience with Israel’s handling of the military campaign, U.S. President Joe Biden issued a stark warning to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday that future U.S. support for Israel’s Gaza war depends on the swift implementation of new steps to protect civilians and aid workers.
U.S. ambassador Michele Taylor, alluding to the Israeli strike that killed seven humanitarian workers from World Central Kitchen in Gaza this week, told the council: “Israel has not done enough to mitigate civilian harm.”
She said there was no condemnation of Hamas for perpetrating the “horrifying” attacks in Israel in the resolution.