War crime Archives - Iran News Daily

Islamic Jihad: Preventing the entry of medicine, food and fuel into Gaza is a war crime

siavash — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 06:15:15 +0000

Islamic Jihad: Preventing the entry of medicine, food and fuel into Gaza is a war crime

TEHRAN (Iran News) In response to the International Court of Justice hearing on the Israeli prevention of humanitarian aid, the the Islamic Jihad Movement announced that as per the international law, preventing the entry of medicine, food, and fuel into the Gaza Strip is a war crime.

According to Al-Mayadeen, the Islamic Jihad movement emphasized that iwould have been better for the International Court of Justice to demand immediate respect for the rulings issued by that court and an immediate end to the policy of blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Islamic Jihad said that according to international law, preventing the entry of medicine, food, and fuel into the Gaza Strip is a war crime.

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Iran reiterates commitment to preventing war crime, ethnic cleansing

mahla — Sat, 25 Jun 2022 21:12:14 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Zahra Ershadi, Deputy Permanent Representative of Iran to the United Nations, has underlined Tehran’s unwavering commitment to preventing genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity.

“I would like to reiterate my delegation’s unwavering commitment to the noble goal of the protection of civilians as well as the prevention of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity and prosecution of their perpetrators,” Ershadi said in a statement to the UN General Assembly meeting titled “The responsibility to protect and the prevention of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.”

She said, “Early warning initiatives along with preventive diplomacy, including resorting to the appropriate peaceful settlement of disputes, serve as the cornerstones for these efforts in order to achieve this goal. We acknowledge the inevitable role of the youths in this process and emphasize the commitment of all countries to protect all their citizens especially children as well as youths during catastrophic humanitarian situations. In this regard, we take note of the recent report of the Secretary-General under this Agenda item.”

At the beginning of her remarks, Ershadi expressed her sympathy and deepest condolences to the people of Afghanistan for the deadly earthquake in the country that has left over 1500 dead and injured many more.

As regards the topic of the meeting, she said, “Bearing in mind that there is no consensus concerning the scope, definition and elements of the concept of the Responsibility to Protect since the 2005 World Summit, in-depth legal as well as humanitarian discussions are required to overcome any divergences in order to advance consensus on this concept and its application. In this regard, the legitimate concerns surrounding this concept must be addressed thoroughly and exhaustively in detail while assurances and commitments by member states under the UN Charter with respect to sovereignty, non-interference in the internal affairs of states as well as the non-use of force and threat to use of force must be reiterated.”

Ershadi added, “My delegation reiterates its longstanding position that the failure to effectively prevent atrocity crimes can be attributed more to the failures of the Security Council rather than due to the lack of a relevant normative framework. However, any attempt to divert the responsibilities of the Security Council to another UN body due to the Security Council’s failure to meet its responsibilities, including by providing noble interpretations of the articles of the UN Charter as well as non-consensual practices, is unequivocally rejected. It is crucial that an objective body, both impartial and independent, is used to assess all situations without selectivity based on the agreed upon legal norms and criteria. Therein, they shall act decisively in order to take the appropriate non-military measures to prevent the occurrence of atrocity crimes as well as its deteriorations. However, should there be an absence of such a body, the Security Council should continue to implement its mandates according to the Charter of the United Nations while efforts on Security Council reforms should be redoubled in order to compensate for its deficiencies.”

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Pompeo threatens ICC for probing Israel war crimes

reporter 1222 — Sun, 17 May 2020 05:03:34 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday warned the International Criminal Court against asserting jurisdiction over Israel, saying the United States will “exact consequences” for any “illegitimate” investigations against the Zionist regime.

The ICC’s prosecutor’s recent decision to accept Palestine as a state with the status to file a complaint could lead to a potential investigation into war crimes by Israel in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, according to reports.

“The International Criminal Court is a political body, not a judicial institution. This unfortunate reality has been confirmed yet again by the ICC prosecutor’s attempt to assert jurisdiction over Israel, which like the United States, is not a party to the Rome Statute that created the court,” read Pompeo’s statement.

“As we made clear when the Palestinians purported to join the Rome Statute, we do not believe the Palestinians qualify as a sovereign state, and they therefore are not qualified to obtain full membership, or participate as a state in international organizations, entities, or conferences, including the ICC,” claimed Pompeo, who was in Israel for a whirlwind visit on Wednesday.

“The United States reiterates its longstanding objection to any illegitimate ICC investigations. If the ICC continues down its current course, we will exact consequences,” Pompeo said.

This week, letters signed by senators and US House representatives from both parties urged Pompeo to prevent International Criminal Court prosecution against Israel, and an Israeli delegation traveled to the United States earlier this year for talks on coordinating a joint US-Israeli campaign against the ICC, Israeli television reported.

An Israeli official said the trip was timed to coincide with the ICC’s approval of a war crimes probe in Afghanistan, as American reaction over the decision would underline that both the US and Israel have a common interest in opposing the court.

The ICC probe in Afghanistan will include investigations of war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed by Afghan government forces, the Taliban, American troops, and US foreign intelligence operatives.

Fatou Bensouda, the ICC’s chief prosecutor, announced in December she had concluded her half-decade long preliminary examination of the situation in Palestine and has a “reasonable basis to believe that war crimes were committed” by the Israel forces.

At the same time, she acknowledged that The Hague may not have the jurisdiction to deal with the issue. Hence, she asked for a ruling by three ICC judges to determine the scope of the court’s territorial jurisdiction.

The prosecutor herself believes Palestine, which acceded to the Rome Statute, the court’s foundational document, in early 2015, is enough of a state for the purposes of transferring criminal jurisdiction over its territory to the court.

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Myanmar security forces possible war crimes

reporter 1222 — Tue, 21 Jan 2020 05:59:22 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – An independent commission established by Myanmar government has concluded there are reasons to believe that security forces committed war crimes in operations that led more than 700,000 members of the country’s Muslim Rohingya minority to flee to neighboring Bangladesh.

However, the commission, headed by a Philippine diplomat, said in a report given Monday to President Win Myint that there is no evidence supporting charges that genocide was planned or carried out against the Rohingya, AP reported.

The Independent Commission of Enquiry announced its findings in a press release posted on its Facebook page. It came just ahead of a decision by the United Nations’ top court, scheduled for Thursday, on a request that Myanmar is ordered to halt what has been cast as a genocidal campaign against the Rohingya.

The African nation of Gambia brought legal action last year to the International Court of Justice in the Netherlands, stating on behalf of the 57-country Organization of Islamic Cooperation that genocide occurred and continues.

State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s top leader, strongly denied wrongdoing by government forces at the initial hearing on the case in December.

“Although these serious crimes and violations were committed by multiple actors, there are reasonable grounds to believe that members of Myanmar security forces were involved” in war crimes, serious human rights violations, and violations of domestic law in 2017, the commission said.

“The killing of innocent villagers and destruction of their homes were committed by some members of Myanmar’s security forces through disproportionate use of force during the internal armed conflict,” it said.

A UN team also conducted a major investigation and found grounds for bringing charges of genocide.

Its members were not allowed to enter Myanmar. They did much of their work interviewing Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. The Independent Commission of Enquiry said its investigators were dispatched to Rakhine state, where the violence occurred, Yangon and the Myanmar capital Naypyitaw “for evidence collection.” But it makes no mention of visiting refugee camps in Bangladesh.

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Nuremberg prosecutor calls Soleimani assassination violation of law

reporter 1222 — Sat, 18 Jan 2020 06:30:00 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Benjamin B. Ferencz, a former lawyer, and Nuremberg war crimes prosecutor has said that the United States’ assassination of Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani is a clear violation of national and international law.

“The administration recently announced that, on orders of the president, the United States had “taken out” (which really means “murdered”) an important military leader of a country with which we were not at war. As a Harvard Law School graduate who has written extensively on the subject, I view such immoral acts as a clear violation of national and international law,” Ferencz wrote in a letter to The New York Times on Wednesday.

Ferencz, 99, who the Nuremberg prosecutor that helped prosecute Nazi leaders at the post-World War II Nuremberg trials, said about assassination of Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, “The public is entitled to know the truth; he United Nations Charter, the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice in The Hague are all being bypassed. In this cyberspace world, young people everywhere are in mortal danger unless we change the hearts and minds of those who seem to prefer war to law.”

General Soleimani was assassinated in a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad on January 3.

He was a legendary commander in leading the resistance movement against terrorist groups, especially Daesh, in both Syria and Iraq.

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Israel afraid of ICC condemnation for war crimes

reporter 1222 — Sun, 22 Dec 2019 10:03:48 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – As Israel is going through investigation by the recent decision of the International Criminal Court, ICC, to launch a full investigation into war crimes in Palestinian territories has raised alarm among current and former Israeli officials and military personnel, who may face global arrest warrants as a result of the probe.

Israel’s Channel 12 TV reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, along with ministers of military affairs, army chiefs, low-ranking soldiers and the heads of the Shin Bet security service in the past five years could all be vulnerable to international prosecution.

Israel is not expected to cooperate with the ICC pre-trial chamber in the coming 120 days, as a part of investigating for war crimes done in Palestinian territory.

“There will be no cooperation with the court… certainly not if it will eventually be decided to open an official probe,” Channel 12 cited diplomatic sources as saying.

However, an official in the Israeli prime minister’s office said, “A decision will be reached after the legal teams make their recommendations.”

On Friday, ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said a preliminary examination into war crimes, opened in 2015, had provided enough information to meet all criteria for opening an inquiry.

There was “a reasonable basis” to investigate the situation in Palestine, she said. “I am satisfied that … war crimes have been or are being committed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem [al-Quds], and the Gaza Strip.”

The probe will apparently cover Israel’s settlement policy in the occupied West Bank, crimes during the 2014 Gaza war, and crackdown on the Great March of Return protests in the besieged Gaza Strip.

On Saturday, transportation minister Bezalel Smotrich called on Netanyahu to give the Palestinian Authority a 48-hour ultimatum to pull its ICC petition or see the Ramallah-based authority “torn down.”

The ICC decision has been widely welcomed by Palestinian officials, with President Mahmoud Abbas calling it a “great” and “historic” day.

“We have achieved what we want, and from this day on, the ICC machine will start accepting the cases that we have previously presented,” he said.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh stressed that the ICC announcement “constitutes a stand for justice and truth.”

“We will make every possible legal effort to try Israel for the war crimes it committed against our people in the Gaza Strip, al-Quds, and the West Bank,” he said.

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