By Deon de Lange
About 75 South Africans serving in the Israeli Defence Force could face war crimes charges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) if South African authorities decline to prosecute them for involvement in the Gaza conflict.
The Media Review Network and the Palestinian Solidarity Alliance - both based in South Africa - on Tuesday discussed this with ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo in The Hague.
In August the two NGOs asked the South African National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to investigate charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes against South African citizens who participated in Israel's offensive in Gaza between December 27, 2008 and January 17, 2009.
Continues Below ↓
About 1 400 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the hostilities.
On Tuesday the two NGOs asked Ocampo to take up the case if the NPA declined to do so.
South Africa is one of only a handful of countries that have domesticated the Rome Statute - which established the ICC - and whose citizens can therefore be prosecuted at home for war crimes committed elsewhere.
Advocate John Dugard, representing the NGOs, handed the ICC a dossier which he says contains evidence that at least 75 South Africans served in the Israeli Defence Force during the Gaza conflict.
But he conceded that, except for one individual, whom he declined to name, there was scant proof that these soldiers actually participated in the fighting.
This was something the NPA - or failing this, the ICC - must establish, he said.
"We discussed proceedings pending before the NPA and the way in which he (Ocampo) could get involved," Dugard said, describing the meeting as "very useful and helpful".
According to Anver Suliman, who attended the meeting on behalf of the Media Review Network, the ICC is treating the matter as a "preliminary exploration" and keeping itself up to date in preparation for a possible future prosecution.
Continues...
|
StumbleUpon
Reddit
Digg
Delicious
Newsvine
Facebook
muti
Twitter
