In
Run-Up
to Palestine
Status Vote,
Schalit Called
a
"Precondition,"
Issue of
Palestine
Joining ICC
Still Dodged
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 8 --
As suspense
grows about whether
Palestine
will this
month seek
full UN
membership
through the
Security
Council,
or enhanced
Observer State
status in the
General
Assembly,
the father
of imprisoned
Israeli
soldier Gilad
Schalit spoke
with the press
at
the UN on
Thursday.
He
circulated a
letter
"demand[ing]
that the
recognition of
Palestine as a
UN
member state
be
preconditioned
on a genuine,
explicit and
UN-monitored
undertaking by
the
Palestinian
Authority to
comply with
international
law and to
immediately
release our
son."
Inner
City Press
asked Noam
Schalit if
this
"precondition"
meant he'd
like
to see a
provision
about his son
included in
any draft
resolution on
Palestine.
He replied
that his
"interlocutors"
had promised
to convey the
issues to
their capitals
and that "I
cannot be
sure what they
will be
demanding
exactly, or if
there will be
any
resolution
that this
issue will be
inside it."
Video here,
from
Minute 31.
Noam
and Aviva
Schalit's
letter cites
the
International
Criminal
Court's Rome
Statute that
"unlawful
taking of
hostages is a
war crime."
Inner
City Press
asked Noam
Schalit and
the other
Schalit family
member
present, if
Palestine can
as an Observer
State join the
ICC,
might it help
to establish
that the
continued
imprisonment
of his son
is a war
crime, and
perhaps aid in
releasing him.
While
no direct
answer was
issued, the
Schalit family
member
accompanying
Noam said
that whatever
status the
Palestinian
might gain
should involve
"responsibilities"
as well as
rights.
Earlier,
Inner City
Press asked
outgoing
President of
the General
Assembly
Joseph Deiss,
based on his
experience as
foreign
minister of
Switzerland
which
joined the ICC
before joining
the UN, if it
was his
understanding
that a General
Assembly vote
granting
Palestine
Observer State
status
would permit
Palestine to
join the ICC.
Deiss
declined to
answer; later,
UN Deputy
Spokesman
Eduardo del
Buey told
Inner City
Press that
question was
"hypothetical."
Inner City
Press
again
asked that
head UN lawyer
Patricia
O'Brien come
and give a
briefing,
something she
has repeatedly
refused to do.
Del Buey said
he would
check. We'll
have more on
O'Brien and
her Office of
Legal Affairs
on this issue.
Noam Schalit
on Sept 7,
with D
(diplomat)
pass
Footnote:
Noam
Schalit said
that he had
France's
Ambassador -
Gerard Araud -
ask
Palestinian
Observer Riyad
Mansour for a
meeting, which
was
rejected
without
explanation.
Later this was
explained:
given Schalit
joint French
citizenship,
it was thought
the
Palestinian
Mission
might react
better to
France than
Israel. It was
noted that
Noam
Schalit UN
pass sported a
"D" for
Diplomat....
* * *
If
Palestine Wins
UN Observer
State Status,
Joining ICC
to Refer
Israel Would
Go Through Ban
Ki-moon, No
Presser in 3
Months
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 6 --
What's at
stake if
Palestine in
the UN
General
Assembly seeks
enhanced
Observer State
status? One
thing is
Palestine's
possible
membership in
the
International
Criminal Court
and the
ability to
refer to the
ICC alleged
crimes
committed by
Israel in Gaza
and the West
Bank.
The
legal adviser
of a large
European state
highlighted
this to Inner
City Press,
predicting
that once the
Palestinians
won Observer
State status
with
130 or so
votes, they
would file a
request to
become party
to the
ICC's Rome
Statute with
UN Security
General's top
lawyer,
Patricia
O'Brien.
It
was said that
while O'Brien
might want
otherwise, ICC
membership for
"States"
is
straightforward
even if they
are not
members of the
UN, as
Switzerland
until recently
was not.
Inner
City Press
on September 6
asked
Switzerland's
Permanent
Representative
to the UN
Paul Seger if
Palestine
would be able
to join the
ICC if granted
Observer State
status.
Seger
replied with
a series of
questions:
"Does that
automatically
then allow
Palestine to
become a
member of an
international
treaty? Each
treaty
has its own
conditions and
prerogatives
for joining
such an
instrument. It
is up to the
member states
of each
international
instrument to
decide whether
or not the
conidtions are
met to become
a party of
that treaty."
Seger
turned and
asked a Swiss
mission
staffer, "In
case of ICC,
who is the
depository?"
The
Swiss staffer
replied, "The
Secretary
General."
Seger
concluded,
"So it will be
the S-G who
will determine
whether or not
Palestine is
qualified to
join that."
Ban
&
Netanyahu
shake, Ban
answer on ICC
for Palestine
not shown
Ban
Ki-moon has
not held a
sit-down
question and
answer session
with the press
at UN
headquarters
for some time
-- despite a
commitment to
do them at
least monthly,
the last one
appears to be
a full three
months ago, on
June
6.
When Ban held
a stakeout
upon gaining a
second term,
his spokesman
went out of
his way to
call on the
UN's
own radio
station for a
softball
question.
In stakeout's
since, he
and his team
have excluded
obvious tough
questions.
Ban's top
lawyer
Patricia
O'Brien has
denied several
requests to
come and give
a briefing. It
is not in
substance a
hypothetical
question: what
will Ban's UN
do?
Watch this
site.
, 
in