The issuance of arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former War Minister, Yoav Gallant, last November 21, descended like a lightning bolt on the two men, neither of whom figured they’d ever face justice for crimes they vehemently deny.

Equally shaken up – some ready and willing to fulfill their duty to the world’s top criminal court; others reportedly hedging their bets – were the 125 State Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), now tasked with executing arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant, should either of them land in their territories.

Among the crimes Netanyahu and Gallant have been charged with, in warrants classified as secret: “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare, and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts,” all “part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Gaza.”

Early last December, at the World Forum Convention Center, in The Hague, states parties gathered for the 23rd Session of the ICC’s Assembly of State Parties (ASP), the representative body that governs the implementation of the ICC’s founding treaty, the 2002 Rome Statute.

The GPM sat down with Vusi Madonsela, South Africa’s Ambassador to the Netherlands, and delegate to the ICC’s Assembly of State Parties.

Listen to our conversation in today’s podcast. Click on the play button above, or go here.

ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan addresses 23rd session of Rome Statute’s Assembly of State Parties (David Kattenburg)

Israel’s assault on Gaza, now into its 15th month, shows no sign of ending. Widely described as genocidal, Israel’s campaign has been condemned as such by numerous human rights and international legal authorities — none more authoritative than the International Court of Justice.

Last month, yet another UN body weighed in — the UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. CERD was formed under the aegis of the 1966 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), one of nine human rights treaties under the UN system.

Among the crimes prohibited under ICERD — apartheid, seven years prior to the 1976 Apartheid Convention.

To date, 182 UN member states have ratified ICERD.

The CERD Committee is made up of 18 members, independent human rights experts drawn from around the world.

ICERD is unique among UN rights treaties. It’s the only one that allows one state to lodge complaints against another — “Inter-State Communications,” is the anodyne term for these — and for these complaints to be ‘conciliated’ by an ad hoc, arms-length conciliation committee. Back in 2019, Palestine lodged one of these against Israel, accusing it of apartheid.

It took years for the CERD committee to deal with Palestine’s Inter-State Communication. Having challenged CERD’s jurisdiction over Palestine’s complaint, and its admissibility (challenges Israel lost), Israel refused to participate in the conciliation process.

Earlier this year, CERD’s conciliation committee released its conclusions. Notwithstanding the mountain of evidence presented to it by Palestine, the conciliation committee did not arrive at an explicit finding of apartheid.

Another unusual mechanisms at CERD’s disposal: “Early Warning and Urgent Action” statements.

This past December 13, CERD issued one of these, in response to the ongoing situation in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and Lebanon.

The Committee declared itself “appalled” by the brutal indiscriminate attacks on innocent women, children, and men, mainly in Gaza, the killing of more than 44,500 Palestinians, the injuries of more than 105,000; the near total and deliberate destruction of the homes, hospitals and schools; the displacement of about 1.9 million Gazans; the unprecedented levels of starvation in Gaza; the killing of at least 343 aid workers, including 253 UN staff, 1,047 health workers, and 183 journalists, raising “serious concerns regarding the obligations of Israel and other State parties to prevent war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.”

For thoughts on CERD’s conciliation of Palestine’s complaint, and its Early Warning and Urgent Action statement, the GPM reached out to Irish legal scholar and ICERD expert David Keane . Keane is an Assistant Professor in Law at Dublin City University, Ireland. He has published a number of works on the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), the CERD Committee and its various unusual mechanisms.

Listen to our conversation in today’s podcast, or go here … Or watch the accompanying video.

And link to David’s writings here.

The GPM reached out to CERD for its comments on all of the above. An interview request was declined.