Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s status as a head of state not a member of the Rome Statute does not give him any immunity from arrest under an International Criminal Court warrant; all Rome Statute countries must arrest him if he ends up in their jurisdiction, the UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers Margaret Satterthwaite said at a briefing in Geneva.
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In November, the French Foreign Ministry said in a communiqué that Paris would not be able to execute the ICC arrest warrant for Netanyahu, since he has immunity as a head of state who has not ratified the Rome Statute.
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“I recall that Article 27 of the Rome Statute clearly states that “the official status of head of state or government… shall in no case exempt a person from criminal liability” and that any immunities or special rules deriving from national or international law, “ which may be connected with the official powers of the person” do not interfere with the jurisdiction of the court (ICC),” Satterthwaite said.
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She added that the ICC had recently clarified that Rome States have an “obligation to arrest and surrender” any person wanted under an ICC arrest warrant, even if that person is a head of state, and regardless of whether that person’s state of nationality is a party to Rome Statute.
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At the end of November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant for alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip. The jurisdiction of the ICC is not recognized by countries where more than half the world’s population lives. Among them are Russia, the USA, China, India, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia. The Rome Statute was signed by 137 states, but the document was ratified by only 124 countries.
