ICC Declines to Pursue Charges Against Israel in Mavi Marmara Incident

By Published On: November 7, 2014

The official statement released by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court:

Following a thorough legal and factual analysis of the information available, I have concluded that there is a reasonable basis to believe that war crimes under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (“ICC” or the “Court”) were committed on one of the vessels, the Mavi Marmara, when Israeli Defense Forces intercepted the “Gaza Freedom Flotilla” on 31 May 2010. However, after carefully assessing all relevant considerations, I have concluded that the potential case(s) likely arising from an investigation into this incident would not be of “sufficient gravity” to justify further action by the ICC. The gravity requirement is an explicit legal criteria set by the Rome Statute.

The Israeli government welcomed the decision to close the case although it expressed

reservations with respect to some of the legal reasoning and several incautious statements in the Prosecutor’s report.

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