Join the Center for Constitutional Rights and its partners on Monday, May 23, 2022, for a special event of "Palestine and the ICC Paralysis: Is Justice still Possible for Palestinians?" The event will be both virtual (11 am ET/New York) and in-person (5 pm CEST/Hauge).

Speakers 

Raji Sourani, Director, PCHR
Roger Waters, Musician and Co-Founder of Pink Floyd 
Susan Akram, Professor, Boston University 
Shawan Jabareen, General Director, Al-Haq 
Delphine Carlens, Head International Justice Desk, FIDH 
Issam Younis, Director, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights
Chaired by Triestino Mariniello, Legal Team for Gaza Victims 

For decades, Palestinian civilians have suffered the most serious violations of their fundamental rights. For over thirteen years now, Palestinian civil society has called the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to initiate an investigation into the alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Israeli authorities in Palestine, including the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. After many years of endeavours to get access to justice, Palestinian civil society and victims welcomed the Prosecutor’s announcement of the opening of an ICC investigation into war crimes committed in Palestine. The ICC indeed represents the last resort for Palestinians to seek justice for the harm they suffered and continue to suffer as a result of the crimes committed within the context of what Palestinian and international human rights organisations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have denounced as an apartheid regime imposed on them.

However, seven years since the beginning of the preliminary examination and more than a year after the opening of a full-fledged investigation, no concrete steps have been taken by the Court to put an end to the ‘impunity crisis’ in the Israeli-Palestinian setting. The ICC has recently proved that it is capable of a prompt reaction over serious and urgent situations. Nonetheless, notwithstanding the gravity, scale and nature of the crimes committed against Palestinians, the ICC has not yet taken active investigation measures over the past and/or on-going violations of international criminal law perpetrated by the Israeli authorities. The OTP’s seeming reluctance to select cases gives rise to a serious concern about a practice of double standards that significantly affect the credibility and legitimacy of the Court. The prolonged denial of justice both at the domestic and at the international level signals an encouragement for the perpetrators to commit new crimes.

In this context of long-standing impunity that has been granted internationally to Israel, the present event brings together Palestinian and international NGOs senior officers, scholars, and artists to shed light on the on-going perpetration of serious violations of Palestinians’ fundamental rights and publicly denounce the lack of effective measures taken by the ICC in one of the most documented situations for the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The public event aims to call upon all stakeholders to invite the ICC Prosecutor to ensure that accountability in Palestine is pursued without any further delay.

The organization of this event has been financially supported by Bertha Foundation.