NGOs demanding Palestinian membership in ICC to permit Gaza inquiry

ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has drawn worldwide condemnation for arbitrarily deciding that the ICC has no jurisdiction because Palestine is, in his words, “not a country”.

Ocampo said only the UN can provide statehood recognition, but two-thirds of the General Assembly has already done so individually. What Ocampo has really done is given the decision to the UN Security Council, where the threatened US veto continues to thwart Palestinian aspirations.

Groups like Amnesty International and even the UN ‘s Goldstone Report have already accused Israel of war crimes in Gaza, but Ocampo’s decision appears to leave little recourse to justice.

A coalition of human rights groups is now calling for ICC members to fast-track Palestinian membership.

The prosecutor’s decision is far from definitive, however.

Moreno-Ocampo is scheduled to leave his post in several months, and human rights advocates say they will continue to petition the ICC on behalf of Palestine.