A delegation from the world’s only permanent war crimes court is visiting the occupied territories and the Palestinian territories this week to “promote better understanding” about its work, the chief prosecutor said Wednesday.
The trip from Wednesday until October 10 will be the first to the region by officials from the prosecutor’s office at the International Criminal Court (ICC) since the 2014 Israeli war on Gaza.
The team will travel to Tel Aviv, al-Quds (Jerusalem) and Ramallah, chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said in a statement for “meetings with Israeli and Palestinian officials at the working levels.”
But she made no mention of whether the delegation would travel to the besieged Gaza Strip and stressed the visit was not aimed at investigating any accusations.
At the request of the Palestinians, Bensouda’s office has opened an initial probe into war crimes during 2014 Gaza war.
She said the visit was “not linked” to her preliminary investigation which she said “is ongoing and is following its normal course.”
“The purpose of this visit will be to undertake outreach and education activities with a view to raising awareness about the ICC and in particular, about the work of the office,” Bensouda said.
The delegation from her office “will not engage in evidence collection in relation to any alleged crimes,” she added.
“Neither will the delegation undertake site visits, or assess the adequacy of the respective legal systems to deal with crimes that fall within ICC jurisdiction.”
Source: AFP
