AL MEZAN CONDEMNS THE CHANGE IN LAW GOVERNING UNIVERSAL JURISDICTION IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, MAKING ACCOUNTABILITY FOR ISRAELI WAR CRIMES MORE DIFFICULT TO PERSUE.

On 15 September the UK parliament approved a change to the law on universal jurisdiction (part of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act) making it more difficult for individuals to obtain arrest warrants for suspected war criminals who are on British soil.
The law now means that private prosecutors seeking a warrant for an arrest will have to obtain approval from the Director of Public Prosecutions when previously arrest warrants could be sought from a local magistrate.
Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights is deeply concerned because the move now makes senior Israeli politicians who are responsible for the unlawful deaths of so many Palestinians effectively immune from prosecution in the UK.
Universal jurisdiction allows those suspected of perpetrating the most heinous of crimes, including war crimes, torture and genocide, to be arrested and prosecuted in any national court in the world, no matter where the crime was committed.
  The UK government has stated the change in law is to prevent courts being used for political purposes, which may go against its own interests.
However, the true reason for the change is that Britain wants to repair diplomatic relations with Israel.
In 2009, Tzipi Livni, the then Israeli Foreign Minister cancelled a trip to the UK after a warrant was issued for her arrest under universal jurisdiction principles for war crimes committed during Operation Cast Lead.
The present UK Government promised Israel it would seek to change the law and Israel exerted intense diplomatic pressure to ensure the promise was kept.
The change in law has the effect of normalising relations between the two countries by having put Israel above the law in exchange for normal diplomatic and trade links.
Previously Israeli politicians did not travel to the UK because they feared arrest, harming diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Israel’s politicians, who give the orders for actions which result in gross human rights violations, will now be able to travel to the UK without any fear of prosecution.
This amounts to a complete denial by Britain that Israel is a violator of human rights and in fact appears to be a reward for its behaviour.
In changing the law, Britain has now effectively created a haven for war criminals, those accused of practicing torture, committing genocide, and crimes against humanity.
This also goes entirely against a precedent which was set by Britain in 1998 when the former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet was arrested in London and extradited to Spain to stand trial for war crimes.
Very few avenues exist for seeking accountability for human rights violations committed by Israel and the 15th September change and has just closed one of them.
It means it is now impossible for British citizens to hold Israel accountable and thus for perpetrators to stand trial for their crimes.
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights calls on the United Kingdom to uphold its moral values and obligations under international law, including the Geneva Conventions, and ensure that those who have committed the most heinous crimes, those which fall under universal jurisdiction, are not given impunity and are held accountable.
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