Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: A war criminal’s "special mission": avoid arrest

Ancora sulla legge porcata imposta al parlamento britannico
 
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A war criminal’s "special mission": avoid arrest
 
     Shazia Arshad
     Friday, 07 October 2011 18:37
 
Livni’s previous, disrupted, visit to London in late 2009 was the 
catalyst for the British government’s move to change the law on 
universal jurisdiction.
The failure to uphold Britain's obligations towards universal 
jurisdiction were demonstrated this week when Tzipi Livni met with 
Foreign Secretary William Hague in London and managed to avoid arrest 
for alleged war crimes. Livni's previous, disrupted, visit to London in 
late 2009 was the catalyst for the British government's move to change 
the law on universal jurisdiction. The then Labour government began to 
make changes to universal jurisdiction and these were put into effect by 
the Coalition with the recent Royal Assent for the Police Reform and 
Social Responsibility Bill. The changes to the law mean that the 
Director of Public Prosecutions has to give consent to any application 
for an arrest warrant with prima facie evidence, whereby previously any 
citizen could apply to Westminster Magistrates Court for such a warrant.
 
Livni and other suspected war criminals have postponed visits to London 
for fear of arrest and, backed by the influential pro-Israel Lobby, had 
pushed the British government to effect changes to the law on universal 
jurisdiction. With both the Coalition Government and the Labour Party 
supporting these changes, ex-Foreign Minister Livni's visit to London 
was inevitable. William Hague said that he was "delighted" to welcome Ms 
Livni to London at a critical moment for the Middle East. "It was an 
appalling situation when political abuse of our legal procedures 
prevented people like Mrs Livni from travelling legitimately to the UK," 
he added. "We have dealt with this urgently as we promised to on coming 
to office."
 
Despite the change in the law, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office 
decided to pre-empt a private application for an arrest warrant against 
Livni made by Hickman and Rose Solicitors and the Palestinian Centre for 
Human Rights on behalf of a Palestinian civilian war crimes victim. The 
application was refused when the FCO afforded Livni "special mission" 
status. This placed Livni under diplomatic immunity during her visit to 
London and protected her from arrest. The Crown Prosecution Service 
released a statement confirming her special status and went on to note 
that the Director of Public Prosecutions had in fact consulted the 
Attorney General when making his decision as to whether or not to give 
his consent to a private application for an arrest warrant. The FCO 
clearly suspected that there was sufficient evidence for a warrant to be 
issued and rushed through the "special mission" order.
 
Thus, despite prima facie evidence of war crimes found by the UN Fact 
Finding Mission following Israel's Operation Cast Lead in 2008/9, Tzipi 
Livni has been successful in avoiding arrest with the full assistance of 
the British government. The diplomatic immunity given to Livni kept her 
afloat in a rising tide of war crimes allegations and therein lies the 
hypocrisy. Whilst the DPP should have acted independently, he sought the 
advice of a political figure, the Attorney General, who had actually 
been thanked personally by an Israeli embassy official at the 
Conservative Party Conference for ensuring that legislative changes had 
been made in order to protect Israeli war criminals. When Ehud Barak, 
the former Israeli Prime Minister (and current Defence Minister), came 
to Britain to attend the 2009Labour Party Conference, the FCO thwarted 
an arrest warrant by claiming Barak was on a diplomatic visit and was 
therefore protected by diplomatic immunity.
 
Although the application of universal jurisdiction should be free from 
political interference the "special mission" status of Livni's visit was 
a clear sign that the British government will go to any lengths to 
protect its friends. The use of this status means that despite Britain 
still being a signatory to the Geneva Convention, the British government 
will be selective over who it wants to arrest for war crimes, and when 
that will be done. A law that by description should be universal is now 
subject to the whim of politicians. Responding to criticism on twitter, 
Mike Gapes MP - who supported the change to universal jurisdiction - 
claimed that war criminals could still be held to account in the UK; 
that's true, but not if they are Israelis.
 
Tayab Ali, a solicitor who campaigned against the changes to universal 
jurisdiction commented: "It is very sad that the allegations levelled 
against Tzipi Livni that she is a war criminal will not be tested in a 
court of law. It is important to note that the DPP did not make a 
decision based on evidence but instead was forced into this position as 
a result of Livni being given 'Special Mission' immunity status. It is 
shameful that the British government should choose to protect those 
suspected of war crimes in this way."
 
Clearly, the government can now pick and choose which war criminals 
should be prosecuted and which should be protected - a worrying sign 
that any war criminal who is a "friend of the UK" is unlikely to face 
justice. Tzipi Livni's "special mission" was simply to avoid arrest. 
Thanks to the British government's abandonment of its legal obligation 
to pursue war criminal suspects, her mission was successful.
 
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/articles/middle-east/2915-a-war-criminals-qspecial-missionq-avoid-arrest
 
-- 
Sostieni Rete ECO
 
http://rete-eco.it/it/sostienici.html
 
 

 
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/
 
 
minchia, bella gente
 
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/michaelweiss/100084962/why-is-amnesty-hosting-a-hamas-friendly-publisher-of-racists/
 

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