International Criminal Court applies double standards on Palestine: Euro-Med

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor (Euro-Med) said Thursday that the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) displayed a "clear double standard" on the Palestinian issue.

It is "deeply concerned that the ICC is unable to fulfill its mandate and that this will cause irreversible harm (to) the rights of the Palestinian people," the Geneva-based organization said in a statement.

“Euro-Med Monitor highlighted the dire need for the ICC to treat Israel’s crime of genocide in the Gaza Strip with the highest degree of seriousness, which should consequently prompt the majority of United Nations and international institutions and experts to pressure Israel to end its assault on the Strip. The suspicion of the occurrence of this genocide has already been confirmed by the world’s highest court, the International Court of Justice,” said the statement.

It said: "The ICC should treat the crime of genocide committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip with the utmost seriousness," it said, and international organizations, including the UN, should pressure Israel to end attacks on Gaza.

Euro-Med said, “There are evident disparities in the way cases submitted to the ICC are handled, particularly when contrasting the approach taken to address the Palestinian situation with the Ukrainian crisis.”

It also urged the ICC to open an investigation into whether the prosecutor complied with the principles of independence and impartiality in carrying out his responsibilities in the Palestinian case.

*Writing by Zeynep Cetin in Istanbul