LIVE: We cannot apply international law only when it’s convenient.

Mr. President, verant senator uh Mr. President, there has been a lot of attention and controversy associated with a recent action by the

international

criminal court, the IC, the main objective of the IC is to prosecute the most serious

international

crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity , war crimes and the crime of aggression I think it is very important that we all support accountability for these crimes and the important mission of the IC Mr. President, last year the IC declared that President Vladimir Putin of Russia was violating the law international and that he was a war criminal and the IC issued arrest warrants against Putin and one of his senior officials saying there were reasonable grounds to believe that they had committed the war crime of illegal deportation and population transfer for their systematic kidnapping of thousands and thousands of Ukrainian children.

I supported the ICC decision and, in fact, that is the tip of the iceberg of what Putin has done in Ukraine. Putin launched the most destructive war in Europe since World War II. He has bombed civilians and devastated civilian infrastructure, killing at least 30,000 civilians and displacing millions. plus hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian and Russian soldiers have been killed or injured as a result of Putin's horrific invasion of Ukraine on the occasion

when

the ICC declared Putin a war criminal the US government welcomed the ICC decision, a White House spokesperson said and I quote that there is no doubt that Russia is committing war crimes and atrocities in Ukraine and we have been clear that those responsible must be held accountable.

The ICC prosecutor is an independent actor and makes his own procedural decisions based on the evidence before him. support accountability for perpetrators of war crimes end quote, that's what a US government spokesperson said in March 2023 and in my opinion I agree that Mr Putin is, in fact, a war criminal, Mr. President, we

live

in a world in which division, tension and hostility are increasing around The countries of the world are dramatically increasing their military budgets. More countries are trying to obtain nuclear weapons and other dangerous weapons systems. It is in times like these that we need international law most.

Without it, we will have an even more violent world where might makes right and war criminals. can act with impunity in recent years the ICC has tried to hold governments and political leaders responsible for crimes against humanity that is what they do and that is what they are supposed to do all wars are terrible and very often the victims Civilians are inevitable, but after the horrors of WWII countries around the world came together to try to establish rules to govern the conduct of war and limit civilian casualties the role of the IC is to enforce these limits Mr.

President yesterday the ic prosecutor announced that he was seeking arrest warrants for three top Kamas leaders, including Yaya Sinoa, the group's leader in Gaza, in my opinion, Sina and his Kamas accomplices are clearly war criminals. The horrific October 7 terrorist attack against Israel started this war and included the mass murder of 12,200 innocent men, women and children. The taking of hundreds. of hostages and sexual violence against captives these war crimes are well documented and very few people would question the merits of those charges Mr. President, the ICC prosecutor also requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Galant the ICC charges focus on the use of civilian starvation as a method of war, as well as international attacks against civilians, those are the charges that the use of civilian starvation as a method of war is clearly a war crime, as well as intentional attacks against the civilian population.

Specifically, the prosecutor says Netanyahu is responsible for, quote, depriving civilians of items essential to their survival, including intentionally impeding the de

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ry of aid as provided for in the Geneva conventions. End of quote, now many people here in Washington have responded negatively to this ICC decision. Prosecutor, it seems that some people here were comfortable with what the IC did in terms of Putin and in terms of Sinoa, but not with Netanyahu. Some have argued that it is unfair to compare the head of the democratically elected Israeli government to Putin, who runs an authoritarian system, or the head of a terrorist organization, but that is not what the ICC has done, in fact the ICC prosecutor has observed what each of these leaders has done, observed their actions and then compared those actions to establish standards of international law.

In other words, the ICC is not making any claim of equivalence as some have accused, but is in fact holding both sides in this current war to the same standard. Yes, democratically elected officials can commit war crimes. Let me repeat. Democratically elected officials can commit war crimes. IC is doing its job, it is doing what it is supposed to do, we

cannot

apply

international law

only

when

it is

convenient

and the independent panel of international legal experts that the ICC appointed to help with this case unanimously agreed with the charges Mr. President, people may be uncomfortable seeing the Prime Minister of Israel accused of war crimes, but let's take a closer look at what he has actually done and determine whether his actions meet the standards of being a war crime.

In 7 and 2 months more than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed. There have been deaths and almost 80,000 injuries. Thousands more remain under the rubble but their bodies have not been fully identified. Around 60% of the victims are women, children or the elderly. More than 250 aid workers have died, including 193 United Nations staff, more than in any previous country. Mr. President, there are 2.2 million people living in Gaza, more than 1.7 million of them have been forced to leave their homes. 75% of the population. I'm trying to think about my own state, what would it be like if 34 of the 400,000 people were simply driven from their homes and these are generally poor people, desperate people, in just the last two weeks over 900,000 have been displaced, many of who have been forced to move many times during this war, expelled from one place, gone to another place, persecuted. from that place they went to another place and many of these people are children God has a very young population many of them are elderly many of them are sick these are people who have been forced to leave their homes and they have moved and they have moved and they have moved again often without adequate food without adequate water supplies and certainly without adequate medical care Mr.

President, when we talk about war crimes we talk about attacks on civilians, let us understand that the Gaza housing stock has been demolished and again treated to think about what it would mean for my own State. If 60% of the homes were destroyed now, if these people who have been kicked out of their homes and displaced from their homes can ever return to their communities, where are they going to live? More than 60% of the housing units in Gaza have been damaged. or destroyed, including 221,000 homes that have been completely destroyed, leaving more than a million people homeless, entire neighborhoods have been devastated by both bombing and planned detonations of explosive charges;

In other words, we are facing a war that we understand that Hamas is a A very difficult enemy often uses civilians to protect its own people. I understand that, but what we are talking about here is that more than 60% of the housing units in Gaza have been destroyed. I find it hard to believe that there was a terrorist in each of those buildings. Israel has destroyed Gaza's Ilan infrastructure, you know, ended its ability to have electricity. There is virtually no electricity in Gaza at the moment. There is practically no drinking water and sewage runs through the streets, spreading diseases.

If that's not an attack on civilians, I don't know. We know what the health care system in Gaza is. It has been systematically annihilated. 21 hospitals have been left inoperable. In fact, of the 36 hospitals in Gaza,

only

four have not been damaged by bombing. Only four of the 36 have not been damaged by bombing. the Israeli army is shut down over 400 healthcare workers have been killed well what do we say when we have a war in which the healthcare system is wiped out at a time when there are tens and tens of thousands of people who are injured , many of them serious, Mr.

President? The education system in Gaza has been practically destroyed. Each of Gaza's 12 universities has been bombed. Each of Gaza's 12 universities has been bombed. More than 400 schools have suffered direct impacts and 56 schools have been completely destroyed today. 625 children in Gaza do not have any access to education and I will tell you something else when you talk about what is happening in Gaza, which is almost not talked about. I think I read an article about this. I want you to think about the psychological damage. In fact, children, children who see their homes destroyed, their parents or family members killed, see drones flying around them, some of which have weapons being pushed out of their homes, deafening noise, inadequate food, inadequate water , pushed pushed anywhere and in every place, what kind of psychic?

If there is a child in Gaza who does not suffer psychological damage from this Hara, I would be very surprised, Mr. President, as a result of the destruction and Israel's policies that restrict the entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza, more than a million people today They face catastrophic levels of hunger and Gaza remain on the brink of famine, hundreds of thousands of children face starvation even now, after more than 7 months of this war, the Israeli invasion of Rafa has seriously disrupted the aid operation humanitarian, closing the two main border crossings and making it almost impossible for the UN to access its warehouses or distribute aid, very little aid has arrived for more than two weeks.

Bakeries have had to close and hospitals are running out of fuel. Just today, the UN announced that it had been forced to stop all food distribution in Rafa. After running out of supplies, the world food program said humanitarian operations in Gaza in the year collapsed saying food and other supplies are not re-entering Gaza in massive quantities and famine-like conditions will spread. from the quote now that Mr. Net was on TV today and elsewhere denies that everything is not true says Mr. Nuu Nyah claims that Israel is deeply concerned about the civilian population concerned about children and that Israel is not blocking humanitarian aid is not good at all, it turns out that the United Nations and practically all other humanitarian groups involved in the humanitarian disaster in Gaza are in complete disagreement with Mr.

Nety. Now we can trust the words of a prime minister criminally charged in Israel or we can trust the people whose role in life is to provide humanitarian aid. The United Nations Secretary-General says much more help is urgently needed to avoid a completely preventable man-made famine and there is no alternative to mass use of land routes. End of quote Cindy McCain, the wife of our former Republican colleague John McCain. who is now the head of the global food program for Gaza who cites that there is full-blown famine in the north and it is moving south. To quote a month ago more than 5050 humanitarian organizations asked Israel to allow greater humanitarian access and stop unnecessarily restricting AIDS, that's 50 humanitarian organizations.

Mr. Yahu doesn't say one thing but 50 organizations that are desperately trying to get food to hungry people say something else and let the world decide who is telling the truth and this group of humanitarian organizations includes the Catholic aid services. care Mercy core Oxfam save refugee children International and dozens of other highly respected humanitarian organizations say Netanyahu and his team have blocked humanitarian aid Mr. President our colleagues two of our colleagues Senators van Holland and Senator Merkley visited Rafa in January uh and uh I listened to your presentation to the Democratic caucus. Upset by unreasonable Israeli restrictions on aid, they talked about trucks being inspected, inspected, returned, things that should have been allowed through, not allowed through, they later said the United States must cite.

Demand that the Neto government lift impediments to the delivery of basic goods necessary to sustain life in Gaza. End of quote. Netanyahu denies it. Two of our colleagues who were there say that Israel was blocking the aid. The US government also disagrees with Netanyahu. US Administrator Samantha Pow. He said that food has not flowed in quantitiesefficient to avoid this imminent famine in the South and these conditions that are already leading to child deaths in the North in March. Secretary of State Lincoln said the bottom line is that the food is coming, but that's the way it is. insufficient final quote in April said there has been progress but it is not enough, we still need to get more help in and around Gaz and in a formal report this month the state department said Israel did not fully cooperate with the United States.

The efforts of the United States Government and the United States Government supported international efforts to maximize the flow and distribution of humanitarian assistance to Gaza. I loved listening to Mr. Netanyahu this afternoon he talked about airlifts, my goodness, they are supporting the airdrops, they are supporting the arrival of food. from the sea, the reason why the United States is spending millions of dollars to bring in food from the sea is precisely because Israel is blocking the ability to bring in trucks and the reason why Jordan and other countries are in the United States are doing air transport .

The declines are once again due to trucks not being able to pass through New York and they are taking credit for it, and yet the reason we have to do it is precisely because of his government's policies. President Biden himself has said, quoting, that one of the main reasons the distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza has been very difficult is because Israel has not done enough to protect the humanitarian workers trying to deliver the aid being desperately needs civilians Israel has also not done enough to protect civilians end of quote from President Joe Biden, so it is fair to say that most of the world does not agree with Mr.

Nety, Mr. President, think of all that destruction, think of the tens of thousands of civilians killed in schools. and exploited hospitals take a look at the photographs of huge, emaciated children dying of hunger while food remains miles away. One of the things that I find interesting is that we don't see enough photographs of that type and maybe that has something to do with the fact that Israel the Israeli army has killed dozens and dozens and dozens of journalists. Last week I met with some journalists, a young man who comes from my own state of Vermont and who had no doubt that he was attacked along with other important journalists. pressed symbols on their coats and they were attacked he was slightly injured one of his colleagues was killed another was seriously injured now if you add it all up are these actions war crimes yes I think they are I think there is substantial evidence that the Israeli government far-right group led by Netanyahu has used hunger as a weapon of war and has clearly attacked civilians and civilian infrastructure.

I think we all agree. I certainly believe it. Israel had the right to defend itself against terrorist attacks. attack on October 7 but it was not like that and this is where we enter the issue of war crimes yes, you have the right to defend yourself yes Israel has the right to persecute Kamas, very few people doubt it, but Netanyahu and his government do not They have the right to wage a total war against children, against women, against the innocent people of Gaza and for that there must be consequences. What the ICC has done is important not only for the global community in the sense that we

cannot

allow the human race to descend into barbarism.

Someone has to say look, war is terrible, we have you to beat, it's a bit shameful as a human being that we have been at war for thousands of years, it doesn't seem like we have made much progress in eliminating war, but if there is war, let's learn from what happened in the past and do our best to protect the women, the children, the innocent, so Israel had the right to defend itself against a terrible enemy, inamas, but it has no right to wage an all-out war against the people of Kaza now, what is this? What the IC is doing is important to the world is telling the leaders around the world, the dictators of democratic countries, that if you go to war you simply cannot wage a total war against civilians, that is what It's the ICC.

Doing that is important, but it is also important, Mr. President, for those of us in the United States, our nation claims to be the leader of the free world and, in our best efforts, we try to mobilize countries to respect international law and prevent crimes against humanity, which is what we do and have done, but Mr. President, how can or how will the United States criticize any country in the world, be it Russia, China, Saudi Arabia or any other country in the world if we intend to that what is happening in Gaza, if we really believe what Netanyahu is saying, if we turn our backs and ignore the crimes against humanity that are being committed in Gaza right now, what credibility will we ever have in criticizing the actions of any country? , no matter how terrible those actions may be? because people will say "oh, you're really attacking China or Turkey or anyone else, you're really very worried, but apparently Netanyahu is a, we don't believe that and I don't want to see this great country of ours be in that position I want to see this country respected around the world as a country that believes in human rights and that does not believe in international law, so the IC, as I see it, is trying to defend international law and minimum standards of decency, our government should do no less, the FL under the previous order the Senate is suspended until 10:00 a.m.