The Statute of Rome, which set up the International Court of Justice (ICC), has one article which casts a shadow on its judicial independence. Article 16 of the ICC Charter states:
“Article 16
Deferral of investigation or prosecution
No investigation or prosecution may be commenced or proceeded with under this Statute for a period of 12 months after the Security Council, in a resolution adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, has requested the Court to that effect; that request may be renewed by the Council under the same conditions.”
The above Article puts the ICC squarely under the control of the Security Council (SC). Knowing that the position of the five powers controlling the SC on ratification, making them parties to the Stature, is as follows:
USA – Not a party
Russia – Not a party
China – Not a Party
UK – A Party. However it had ensured, in domestic legislation incorporating the ICC Statute, that no criminal proceedings may be initiated without the consent of the UK Government which consent had never been granted, to any private prosecutor, whether under the ICC or under any other legislation on International crime.
It would be fair to conclude that the ICC is at the mercy of the controllers of the SC who themselves are not party to the Statute of the ICC. That means they can control the Court but are themselves unanswerable to it!
This goes to explain why the ICC has been busy mainly with indicting Africans.
One other striking example of the political power over the ICC is the immediate reaction of the ICC following the military operations of Russia into Ukraine. The ICC lost no time in announcing the initiation of its investigations. Yet, I don’t know of any announcement by the ICC in 2003 to investigate the potential war crimes committed by Ukraine which contributed some 10000 to the invasion and occupation of Iraq.
Crimes Committed against Iraq and in Iraq
I am not aware of a single article written by a respectable lawyer who has argued that no war crimes or crimes against humanity were committed in Iraq during the aggression of invasion and occupation in 2003 ranging from the saturation of Iraq with DU to the carnage in Falluja to the De-Ba’athifiaction of Iraq society, ousting over 2 million people from society and life. These are not just my allegations made but facts as established in the UK Government official Chilcot Report – in case someone raises doubts.
The current rulers of Iraq are busy hoarding money for themselves making Iraq identified today as one of the most corrupt states in the World. In my pursuit for justice for the hapless people of Iraq I tried to bring criminal proceedings in the UK against Tony Blair for the pollution of Iraq with the poisonous and radioactive Depleted Uranium (DU). The success of any such proceedings would have resulted in forcing the UK to identify and remove all the sites that were hit and polluted with DU. Needless to say the High Court refused to allow me to proceed to indict Tony Blair relying on legislation which grants a single judge the authority to rule in such a matter without access to a review or appeal.
On 28/09/2021, I applied to the ICC inviting it to investigate the crime of dispersing poisonous DU over Iraq contrary to war crimes and genocide as defined under its Statute. When doing so I explained the background of the action taken in the UK and attached copies of the proceedings and results in the UK. This is shown below.
On 12/05/2022, the ICC emailed me its refusal to initiate any investigation. The text is shown below.
It did not only fail to give any reasons required by principles of justice as accepted under all instruments of international law, but more importantly it invited me to proceed to take domestic measures stating:
“Thus, if you wish to pursue this matter further, you may consider raising it with appropriate national or international authorities.”
This reveals only one thing, namely that the decision to reject my application was made irrespective of the merits of the application. The only explanation of the response is that whoever wrote it had not even noticed that I have already advised the ICC of my attempt at initiating the proceedings in the UK.
Who controls and runs the ICC then!
A copy of my Application to the Prosecutor of the ICC dated 28/09/2021
The Arab Chambers
72 Heathcroft Avenue
Sunbury, Middx TW16 7TN
Tel: +44(0) 7505 708 261
haqalani@gmail.com
28 September 2021
Mr Karim A. A. Khan QC
The Prosecutor
International Criminal Court
Post Office Box 19519
2500 CM The Hague
The Netherlands
otp.informationdesk@icc-cpi.int
Fax +31 70 515 8555
Dear Mr Khan QC
RE: A Call to Investigate the Crime Committed by the UK in the Use of Depleted Uranium in Iraq
I would like to invite you to consider the following.
The UK Government had acknowledged in Parliament that it had sprayed Iraq with hundreds of tonnes of pulverised Depleted Uranium (DU) when it invaded it with the USA in 2003.
It is an established scientific fact, confirmed by many reputable international bodies such as the Royal Society, that (DU) is both poisonous and radioactive, whose radioactivity remains for billions of years if no cleaning operation is carried out.
The UK Government had acknowledged in Parliament that it made no attempt to clean the sites at which DU shells were fired.
There are hundreds of medical and scientific reports that have been compiled by Iraqi and international individuals and organizations that show the alarming rise in cases of unknown cancers and child deformities that had been witnessed in Iraq since the 2003 which gave the medical profession reason to link theme to the use of DU.
The UK Government has so far failed to discharge its duty under Article 136 of the First Protocol to the Genevan Conventions 1949 to submit evidence that the use of DU in a new weapon is safe.
An attempt to initiate a private criminal prosecution in the UK on behalf of victims of DU had failed as had other attempts to indict members of HM Government for crimes committed in the invasion and occupation of Iraq for the following two reasons:
The political decision which was communicated to the Metropolitan Police, as shown in the attached letter, that the Attorney General who holds the final word in criminal prosecution WILL not allow any such prosecution to proceed;
By reason of section 18(1) of the Senior Courts Act 1981, an application for Summons may be disposed of without a single hearing once the High Court judge decides, on paper, at the permission stage of Judicial Review that it is totally without merit. There is no appeal or review from such a decision!
I respectfully submit that the use of DU by the UK in Iraq are war crimes in breach of para 2(b) (xvii) and 2(b)(xviii) of Article 8 of the Rome Statute and ought to be investigated.
I respectfully submit that the use of DU by the UK in Iraq is an act of Genocide in breach of para (a), (b) and (c) of Article 6 of the Rome Statute and ought to be investigated.
I am aware of the fact that there are hundreds of applications for crimes before the Prosecutor to consider and all crimes need to be investigated. But I am equally aware of the fact that the scale of the crime and the fact it is ongoing as the case of the existence of DU in Iraq deserves and urgent consideration.
Looking forward to a positive response, I shall be ready to cooperate with the investigation and provide it with the evidence that I had compiled over the last twenty years,
Sincerely
Dr Abdul-Haq Al-Ani
A copy of the response of the ICC, dated 12/05/2022, to my above application dated 28/09/2021.
International Criminal Court
Our Reference: OTP-CR-369/21
The Hague, Thursday, 12 May 2022
Dear Sir, Madam
On behalf of the Prosecutor, I thank you for your communication received on 28/09/2021, as well as any subsequent related information.
As you may know, the International Criminal Court (“the ICC” or “the Court”) is governed by the Rome Statute, which entrusts the Court with a very specific and carefully defined jurisdiction and mandate. A fundamental feature of the Rome Statute is that the Court may only exercise jurisdiction over persons for the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole, namely genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. These crimes are carefully defined in the Rome Statute (Articles 6 to 8) and further elaborated in the Elements of Crimes, adopted by the Assembly of States Parties.
Based on the information currently available, the conduct described in your communication does not appear to fall within these stringent definitions. Accordingly, as the allegations appear to fall outside the jurisdiction of the Court, the Prosecutor has confirmed that there is not a basis at this time to proceed with further analysis. The information you have submitted will be maintained in our archives, and the decision not to proceed may be reconsidered if new facts or evidence provide a reasonable basis to believe that a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court has been committed.
I hope you will appreciate that with the defined jurisdiction of the Court, many serious allegations will be beyond the reach of this institution to address. I note in this regard that the ICC is designed to complement, not replace national jurisdictions. Thus, if you wish to pursue this matter further, you may consider raising it with appropriate national or international authorities.
I am grateful for your interest in the ICC. If you would like to learn more about the work of the ICC, I invite you to visit our website at www.icc-cpi.int.
Yours sincerely,
Mark P. Dillon
Head of the Information & Evidence Unit
Office of the Prosecutor
Abdul-Haq Al-Ani haqalani@gmail.com