Amal Clooney of the Clooney Foundation for Justice attends the United Nations ‘Arria-formula’ meeting, an informal gathering of Security Council members, on April 27, 2022. (Credit: Timothy A. Clary/AFP)
Long questioned about her “silence” on the ongoing conflict in Gaza, Amal Clooney has for the first time taken part in the ongoing debate on the prosecution and prevention of war crimes, by publicly supporting the initiative of the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan.
One of the eight members of the group of international law experts and former ICC judges appointed by Karim Khan in January 2024 to “assist him in his investigation of the situation in the State of Palestine,” the Lebanese lawyer and five of her colleagues signed an article in the Financial Times entitled “Why we support the ICC's prosecution of crimes committed in Israel and Gaza.” The text presents the main conclusions of the report published the same day by the group on the ICC website. “We have carefully examined each of the applications for arrest warrants and the documents produced by the prosecution team in support of those applications ... We unanimously agree that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the suspects he has identified have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity falling within the jurisdiction of the ICC,” the text reads.
The publication of the report and tribune, signed by some of the experts who wrote it, comes as Khan, on the same day, requested arrest warrants for Israeli leaders – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant – and Palestinian Hamas leaders – Yahya Sinwar, Hamas leader in Gaza and alleged mastermind of the Oct. 7 attacks; Mohammad Deif, head of the al-Qassam Brigades (Hamas's armed wing); and Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas's political bureau – for war crimes and crimes against humanity. “Today, the prosecutor has taken a historic step towards justice for the victims in Israel and Palestine by issuing applications for five arrest warrants alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by senior Hamas and Israeli officials,” commented the signatories of the tribune in support of this unprecedented move.
For months I couldn’t fathom why Amal Clooney was silent. Turns out she was quietly doing her job.
— Jasmine M. El-Gamal (@jasmineelgamal) May 20, 2024
The problem with idolising people is that we project onto them. This was a good lesson to be/do what you are seeking in/from others & let them do things the way they see fit.
1/2 https://t.co/B62WqK3k1b
The Lebanese lawyer had been singled out by a number of pro-Palestinian voices for her “silence” on the war in Gaza, recalling her various battles as an international lawyer – from the defense of Julian Assange (co-founder of WikiLeaks) to that of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and Yazidi Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Murad. Following the publication of the legal report, many Internet users reacted positively by “thanking” her, some even apologizing after criticizing her. “For months, I couldn't understand why Amal Clooney remained silent. Turns out she was quietly doing her job,” commented Jasmine el-Gamal, who served as Middle East Advisor to the US Department of Defense from 2008 to 2015, on X.
“I participated in this panel because I believe in the rule of law and the need to protect civilian lives ... That's why I support the historic step taken by the ICC prosecutor to bring justice to the victims of atrocities committed in Israel and Palestine,” Amal Clooney said in a statement on her foundation's website. “My approach is not to provide ongoing commentary on my work but to let the work speak for itself. I hope the witnesses will cooperate with the ongoing investigation. And I hope that justice will prevail in a region that has already suffered too much,” she added.
This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.