Harry Davies
The Guardian / October 8, 2024
Complainants request examination of allegations Israel tried to derail international criminal court inquiry.
Prosecutors in the Netherlands are considering a request to open a criminal case against senior Israeli intelligence officials for allegedly interfering with an investigation by the international criminal court (ICC).
The request was filed last week by a group of 20 complainants, most of whom are Palestinian, asking the Dutch prosecution service to examine allegations Israel tried to derail the ICC’s inquiry into alleged crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories.
According to lawyers for the group, the criminal complaint was filed in response to an investigation by The Guardian revealing how Israeli intelligence attempted over a nine-year period to undermine, influence and allegedly intimidate the ICC chief prosecutor’s office.
The joint investigation with the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and the Hebrew-language outlet Local Call prompted the Dutch government to raise concerns earlier this year with Israel’s ambassador to the Netherlands.
As the host state of the ICC, which is in The Hague, the Netherlands is obliged under an agreement with the court to protect the safety and security of ICC staff, and must ensure it is “free from interference of any kind”.
The criminal complaint called on the Dutch authorities to honour its obligations to the ICC “as a matter of urgency”, according to extracts of the filing seen by the Guardian.
Lawyers for the complainants argued in the submission that “Israel’s many attempts to influence, sabotage and stop the investigation constitute a direct violation of their [clients’] right to justice.”
They said Israel’s espionage against the ICC may have included breaches of Dutch criminal law as well as offences against the administration of justice under article 70 of the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC.
The lawyers urged prosecutors to focus a case on senior members of the Israeli security apparatus for their alleged involvement in potentially criminal acts in the Netherlands.
A spokesperson for the Dutch prosecution service said: “The complaint has been received … and will be studied.”
Israel’s embassy in the Netherlands did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Israel’s prime minister’s office previously said The Guardian’s reporting included “unfounded allegations meant to hurt the state of Israel”.
The ICC’s Palestine investigation dates back to 2015 when the court’s former chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, opened a preliminary inquiry into the situation in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, a move that led Israel to launch its covert campaign against the court.
In May, the current prosecutor, Karim Khan, filed applications for arrest warrants against senior Hamas figures and Israeli officials for war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed during Hamas’s 7 October attack and the ensuing war in Gaza.
A panel of judges at the ICC is considering applications filed by Khan against the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the defence minister, Yoav Gallant, and Hamas’s leader, Yahya Sinwar.
In the wake of The Guardian investigation into the Israeli espionage, the Dutch government has faced calls from Dutch MPs to open an independent inquiry and do more to protect the court.
A spokesperson for the Dutch ministry of foreign affairs did not comment on the criminal complaint, but said the government has “continuous and good contact with the ICC” and security concerns had been discussed.
“Let one thing be clear: the Netherlands is doing its utmost to allow the ICC to do its work safely, undisturbed and independently,” they said.
A spokesperson for the ICC prosecutor’s office said Khan had made clear in May that attempts to “impede, intimidate or improperly influence” ICC officials may constitute article 70 offences.
“The office remains deeply concerned by the ongoing attempts to improperly influence its activities through threats and intimidation of its officials,” they added.
Harry Davies is an investigations correspondent at The Guardian
