US: Palestine not a state, does not qualify for ICC membership

US officials examining whether move violates US appropriations law for continuation of Palestinian aid.

JPOST

WASHINGTON – Palestine is not a state, and therefore does not technically qualify for membership to the International Criminal Court, the State Department said on Wednesday.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the US would oppose the Palestinian move to join the body, and several others at the United Nations, a step it sees as technically flawed.

“It doesn’t qualify to join the ICC,” Psaki told reporters.

That US position stakes out a legal argument for denying ICC membership to the Palestinian Authority – or, at a minimum, for future legal battles over its jurisdiction in the West Bank – after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas signed the Rome Statute of the court on December 30.

But UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday said the Palestinians would officially become ICC members as of April 1.

That subjects Israel to accusations of war crimes filed by any ICC member state. The Palestinian Authority, as well, may now face accusations of perpetrating war crimes.

The Obama administration has said in recent days that the decision runs contrary to the pursuit of peace, and a major setback in the diplomatic process. US officials are also examining whether the move violates US appropriations law for the continuation of Palestinian aid.

Washington provides roughly $400 million to the PA on an annual basis.

The President of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute, Minister Sidiki Kaba, on Wednesday “welcomed the deposit by the State of Palestine of the instruments of accession to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court,” after being notified by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon in his capacity as depositary that he had officially received the Palestinians’ application.

A statement said that “the deposit of the instruments of accession by the State of Palestine,” effected as of January 2, had brought the number of States Parties to the Rome Statute to 123.

Kaba added that “each ratification of the Rome Statute constitutes welcome progress towards its universality. I call on all members of the United Nations to join this permanent and independent system of international justice to fight against impunity and prevent the most serious crimes under international law, which is based on the principle of complementarity with domestic jurisdictions.”

The statement noted that in “a related development, the Government of Palestine accepted, by means of a declaration under article 12(3) of the Rome Statute, the ICC jurisdiction” since June 13.

It added that also on Wednesday, the ICC Registrar addressed a letter “to the government of Palestine accepting this declaration and transmitted it to the Prosecutor for her consideration.”