The International Criminal Court logo. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.
(JNS.org) The Palestinian Authority (PA) will become the 123rd member of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on April 1, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced late on Tuesday.
“The Statute will enter into force for the State of Palestine on 1 April 2015 in accordance with its article 126 (2) which reads as follows: ‘For each State ratifying, accepting, approving or acceding to this Statute after the deposit of the 60th instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, the Statute shall enter into force on the first day of the month after the 60th day following the deposit by such State of its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession,’” Ban said, referring to PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s signing of the ICC’s Rome Statute.
U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) on Tuesday condemned the PA’s “irresponsible and destabilizing efforts to use the ICC to target Israel and undermine the peace process” and called for the Obama administration to halt funding to the PA.
“The Administration must now enforce U.S. law as mandated by Congress and cut off U.S. funding to the Palestinian Authority until they start acting like the partner for peace that is needed in the Middle East,” Kirk said.
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