The US has
slammed the UN's move to accept Palestine as a member of the International
Criminal Court (ICC). The State Department says Palestine does not qualify for
the ICC membership because it is not a sovereign state.
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| State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki speaks at the daily briefing at the State Department in Washington,dc on March 10, 2014 (Photo: Nicholas Kamm/ AFP/Getty Images) |
"The
United States does not believe that the state of Palestine qualifies as a
sovereign state and does not recognize it as such and does not believe that it
is eligible to accede to the Rome statute," said State Department
spokeswoman Jen Psaki on Wednesday, referring to the convention under which the
International Criminal Court (ICC) was set up.
The US,
which is not a full member of the ICC, is unlikely to block the move; however,
it can cut off its annual aid of $440 million (372 million euros) to the Palestinian
Authority.
A request
by Palestine to join the ICC was accepted by the UN earlier on Wednesday,
according to UN spokesperson Stephanie Dujarric.
UN
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had been quoted by the Associated Press and DPA
news agencies late Tuesday as saying that the authority would join the ICC on April 1.
In late
December, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signed documents applying to join the ICC following a failed bid at the United Nations Security Council to set a
timeline for setting up a Palestinian state on lands occupied by Israel.
The
long-signaled move, part of a broader Palestinian strategy to achieve
statehood, has been condemned by both Israel and the US as an impediment to
reaching a permanent peace deal.
The ICC was
established to prosecute individuals who perpetrate war crimes, crimes against
humanity and genocide.
While
joining the court would give Palestinians the ability to pursue war crimes
charges against Israelis, an ICC investigation could also possibly lead to war
crimes charges against Palestinians.
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