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Norway considering war crimes charges against Israel leaders

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] A top Norwegian prosecutor said Wednesday that she will look into a compliant filed by Norwegian lawyers accusing Israeli government figures of war crimes during the recent offensive in the Gaza Strip. The chief prosecutor at Norway's National Authority for Prosecution of Organised and Other Serious Crimes Siri Frigaard will investigate the complaint, which alleges that 10 Israelis, including former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, committed terror attacks against civilians. The lawyers' compliant was centered on the Norwegian interpretation of universal jurisdiction, which allows individuals to be charged Norway for committing war crimes, genocide or crimes against humanity despite the acts occurring internationally. Israel conducted its own internal investigation into the allegations, concluding that there was no wrongdoing. Israel reiterated this position Wednesday, and human rights groups immediately responded by calling for an independent investigation into war crimes allegations. Last week, Israel announced that it would not comply with a UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) investigation into the war crimes. The probe was a result of the report authored by UN Special Rapporteur Richard Falk that criticized Israel for failing to take adequate precautions to distinguish between civilians and combatants in their offensives in the region. Both Israel and the US condemned the report as biased.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on April 22, 2009 (boomark / email).