By Khetam Malkawi
AMMAN - A delegation representing the Lower House and the National Centre for Human Rights (NCHR) has “indefinitely postponed” a planned trip to The Hague to deliver a document to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to open an investigation against Israeli officials responsible for "war crimes and genocide in Gaza”.
MP Mubarak Abu Yameen told The Jordan Times on Tuesday that the trip was postponed for “procedural” reasons, but did not elaborate.
The delegation was scheduled to hand over a “letter of notification and referral” containing the names of Israeli leaders to be sued to ICC Prosecutor General Luis Moreno-Ocampo on Thursday, according to the deputy, who is a member of the delegation.
These include Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Minister of Internal Security Avi Dichter, Deputy Defence Minister Matan Vilnai and military officers.
Abu Yameen noted that the letter also details the type of crimes committed by Israeli leaders against the people of Gaza in the period between December 27, 2008 and January 18, 2009, as well as “information and reports released by the Human Rights Council, UNRWA, the International Committee for Red Crescent and other international human rights organisations.
Last month, lawmakers approved several options to sue Israeli "war criminals" following the three-week devastating attack on Gaza that killed more than 1,300 people.
However, this is the only option the House is following up on for the time being, according to Abu Yameen.
“Other options will be postponed because Parliament is now in recess, and we will look into them later,” the deputy explained, adding that a decision to follow up this option was taken during the second ordinary session of Parliament before it adjourned earlier this month.
Among the options endorsed by the House is filing a lawsuit against Israel at the International Court of Justice, and at one of the European national courts like Spain, Britain or Belgium, which look into cases against suspected war criminals.
Lawmakers also decided to ask the government to call for a meeting of the UN General Assembly and summon UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to provide testimony based on his observations during a visit to the war-scarred coastal enclave.
Another recommendation endorsed by the House is requesting the government to contact Switzerland - the deposit country of the four Geneva conventions - to call for a meeting of state parties to the conventions based on the first common article which states that signatories should respect these conventions in all situations.
In addition, deputies approved a proposal by the House Legal Committee to amend local legislation to authorise the Kingdom's courts to try war crimes and genocide cases.
