Facts
The 17 July 2023 marked the 25th anniversary of the Rome Statute of the International criminal Court (ICC).
Two days later, on 19 July 2023, Foreign Minister Lord Ahmad tweeted about the anniversary, stating, “The UK is proud to champion the work of the ICC in holding to account those responsible for the most serious international crimes.”
On 3 March 2021, the International Criminal Court announced the opening of an investigation into the Situation in the State of Palestine.
The Government has since made it clear that they do not support the ICC investigation into Palestine, because “the UK does not currently recognise Palestinian statehood.”
Verdict
The UK Government explicitly rejects the ICC investigation into human rights abuses committed by its ally Israel in the Palestinian territories. Lord Ahmed was not telling the full story to his Twitter followers.
We emailed Lord Ahmad’s office offering him the chance to respond. We appreciate his response, which we have included in full below.
To be clear I stand by my remarks, including in many exchanges in Parliament and only last week I as the Minister responsible reiterated UK’s support for the ICC and the need for it to be allowed to carry on its important work. We respect its independent mandate, and the UK also provides funding for its work, including that of the Office of the Prosecutor. It is for the Court and its officials to make its assessments and whilst there may be varying opinions across government and Parliament , both personally and professionally as does the UK, we remain very supportive of the important work of the Court and respect its independence.