Via SYRIA 360°
December 12, 2014
TEHRAN (FNA)- International Criminal Court (ICC) lawyers are gathering evidence on the ISIL extremist fighters from Jordan, Tunisia and European countries, ahead of a potential war crimes probe, ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced.
“It’s not an investigation, it’s not a prosecution, it’s just collecting information,” Bensouda told Sputnik Thursday evening, on the sidelines of an event at the Council on Foreign Relations, a New York-based think tank.
The chief prosecutor stressed that the information needs to be assessed carefully before any prosecutions can be launched.
“Already we had the policy of (prosecuting those) most responsible (for war crimes). So you would assume that we only have to look at the most responsible amongst the ranks of ISIL. But the recent strategic plan of looking at notorious and mid-level and then moving up gradually to the most responsible is possible,” Bensouda explained.
The ICC prosecutor’s office has received files from Lebanon, Tunisia and Jordan about militants who have joined the ISIL, a radical group, which has taken control over vast areas in Iraq and Syria.
The ISIL, which has been fighting the Syrian government since 2012, having also extended its attacks to Iraq, is well-financed and draws fighters from many regions, including Europe. A UN commission has accused it of war crimes and crimes against humanity for such brutal tactics as killing, enslavement, rape and sexual slavery.
The ICC has no jurisdiction in Iraq or Syria, but Jordan, Tunisia and European countries are members of the court and their nationals are subject to prosecution by the Netherlands-based tribunal under certain circumstances.
With headquarters in The Hague, the ICC is the world’s only independent permanent tribunal to try cases of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Uprooted Palestinian 
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