On 10 September 2018, the United States National Security Advisor John Bolton, in an address to the Federalist Society on “Protecting American Constitutionalism and Sovereignty from International Threats”, launched a reprehensible attack against the International Criminal Court (ICC). Bolton also announced the closure of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) office in Washington D.C. in response to “Congressional concerns with Palestinian attempts to prompt an ICC investigation of Israel”. Al-Haq condemns the closing of the PLO office as a punitive measure aimed at ensuring that the State of Palestine does not pursue accountability through the ICC.

Dear Madam Prosecutor,

Today, on 17 September 2018,  25 civil society organisations including coalitions urge you to urgently open an investigation into the Situation in Palestine. The International Criminal Court (ICC) is the only viable independent judicial body capable of ending impunity for crimes committed in the occupied Palestinian territory and effectively deterring the commission of future crimes.

On 5 September 2018 the Israeli High Court of Justice gave its go-ahead for the demolition of the Khan Al-Ahmar community of 180 Palestinian residents any time after 12 September 2018. The school in Khan Al-Ahmar serves 170 students from five nearby Bedouin communities. The decision reinforces a previous ruling that will ensure the unlawful forcible transfer of Palestinians from the E1 area and paves the way for the merging of the Israeli Ma’ale Adumim settlement with East Jerusalem.

Al-Haq has reviewed the Palestinian High Court judges’ position, as issued on the website of the Palestinian Judges Association on 5 September 2018, in which the High Court judges announced their resignation en masse and placed their resignation at the disposal of the Chairman of the Palestinian Judges Association. The mass resignation by the High Court judges came in protest against recommendations of the Justice Sector Development Committee (‘the Committee’), which according to the judges “violated the independence of the judiciary and the principle of separation of powers, providing an easy way for the executive authority to tighten its control over the judiciary.”