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Palestine becomes full member of International Criminal Court
The Hague, April 1
Palestine joined the
International Criminal Court (ICC) with full membership on Wednesday
after its accession to the Rome Statute went into force, allowing it to
file cases of war crimes such as those committed in the occupied
territories of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.
During
a ceremony held on Wednesday at the Hague Tribunal on the occasion of
the accession, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Malki received a
symbolic copy of the Rome Statute, the treaty which established the ICC,
Efe news agency reported.
On January 1, the Palestinian National
Authority submitted a document to the court declaring it a signatory to
16 multilateral treaties, including the Rome Statute.
According
to the document, the Palestinian government accepted the jurisdiction of
the highest international tribunal for alleged crimes committed in the
occupied Palestinian territories since June 13, 2014.
The
Palestinian government had already declared its acceptance of the
jurisdiction of the ICC on June 13, 2014, through a declaration issued
in line with Article 12, subsection three, of the Rome Statute.