Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 19 September 2018
57. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will call for the Israeli person responsible for the transfer of persons (details supplied) to be prosecuted for war crimes. [37939/18]
View answerIreland has consistently made clear our opposition to the building of Israeli settlements in occupied territory, which is illegal under international law. We have stated that both the overall policy and many of the actions taken to carry it out are likely to constitute serious breaches of international law.
Ireland is a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and is a firm supporter of the role and work of the ICC. The ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor conducts independent and impartial preliminary examinations, investigations and prosecutions under the Rome Statute. We believe that all states should support the work of the ICC.
Since January 2015, following Palestine's accession to the Rome Statute on 2 January 2015 and its declaration of 1 January 2015, lodged under article 12(3) of the Statute accepting the jurisdiction of the ICC over alleged crimes committed "in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, since June 13, 2014”, the situation in Palestine has been subject to a preliminary examination conducted by the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC in order to ascertain whether the criteria set out in the Statute for opening an investigation have been met. In May 2018, the Prosecutor received a referral from Palestine which “requests the Prosecutor to investigate, in accordance with the temporal jurisdiction of the Court, past, ongoing and future crimes within the court’s jurisdiction, committed in all parts of the territory of the State of Palestine”. The question of proceeding with an investigation is therefore under consideration by the Office of the Prosecutor.
