Prime Minister warned of intention to prosecute UK government officials for complicity in war crimes in Gaza
- International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) has written a notice of intention to prosecute UK government officials, for aiding and abetting war crimes in Gaza.
- Officials could be held individually criminally liable for their role in aiding and abetting war crimes.
- The notice has been handed over to Scotland Yard’s War Crimes Unit, who have requested evidence relating to war crimes in the region.
London 14 October 2023- The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) has issued Prime Minister Rishi Sunak with a stark warning that UK government officials could be individually liable for their role in aiding and abetting Israeli war crimes. Sunak has been issued with the notice of intention to prosecute UK government officials, for their role in providing military, economic and political support to Israel, which has aided Israel’s perpetration of war crimes.
This remarkable development comes at a time when Scotland Yard’s War Crimes Unit have opened calls for evidence relating to war crimes in the region. In an incredible turn of events, this could lead to UK government officials being prosecuted for war crimes by Scotland Yard. Individuals could also be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court.
The decision to prosecute comes in response to Israel’s directive to 1.2 million people in Gaza to immediately leave their homes in northern Gaza and move south. This order will result in mass forced displacement which may amount to both a war crime and a crime against humanity. The siege of Gaza, restricting electricity, food, water and other basic necessities, constitutes collective punishment, which is also a war crime under the Geneva Convention. At the same time, Israel has continued to bombard Gaza with massive and indiscriminate airstrikes, killing over 1,799 people, including 583 children.
The UK government has provided military assistance and economic and political support. Now that war crimes have been carried out, continuation of such support and assistance would mean that UK Government officials would be complicit in the commission of war crimes and potentially crimes against humanity. This complicity, formally known as ‘aiding and abetting’ war crimes, may mean that UK government officials are individually criminally liable for breaking international law.
ICJP Co-Director is Crispin Blunt MP, former Chair of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee and former Justice Minister. He is a strong supporter of Prime Minister Sunak and wishes to divert him from a serious policy error and, enable him to express strong emotional support to Israel in the face of an appalling war crime that was a planned terrorist part of Hamas’s direction of last Saturday’s operation against Israel, whilst guiding Israel to accept the restraints that international law place on the democracies.
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
- The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians is an independent organisation of lawyers, politicians and academics who support the rights of Palestinians and aim to protect their rights through the law.
- The full letter to the Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary and Attorney General can be found at the bottom of this page..
- For more information, or to arrange an interview with a spokesperson please contact: [email protected]