A criminal law expert has outlined the next steps of Jacqui Lambie’s unprecedented referral of Australian Defence Force senior commanders to the International Criminal Court.
Dr Glenn Kolomeitz – a criminal law expert and Afghanistan veteran – appeared alongside the Senator in Parliament House on Tuesday afternoon following her fiery speech to the Senate earlier that day, where she revealed she had referred top military brass to the ICC to investigate their “criminal liability” in alleged war crimes.
He said the process is now in the hands of the ICC’s prosecutors, who will then decide whether there was enough evidence for the case against the higher command to proceed.
“They would investigate, and they would ask for the cooperation of the Australian government to investigate,” Dr Kolomeitz said of the ICC.
The ICC is intended to complement, not to replace, national criminal systems; it prosecutes cases only when states are unwilling or unable to do so.
This means the prosecutor will refer the case back to Australia if enough evidence is found to proceed with an ICC prosecution.
The onus will then be on the Australian government to investigate the matter thoroughly and “give some serious consideration” as to why they haven’t probed the command responsibility aspects of the Afghanistan allegations, Dr Kolomeitz said.
“If Australia does nothing about it, the ICC can potentially assume jurisdiction over the higher command and excise the higher command investigation of junior officers,” he said.
He said the intent behind Ms Lambie’s referral was to “get Australia to properly look at this”.
The ICC sets the test for command responsibility as whether they “knew or should have known” about the alleged war crimes being committed by subordinate officers, Dr Kolomeitz said.
“This would then involve the ICC looking to see if there was any evidence of knowledge, or that higher command should have known,” he said.
Dr Kolomeitz added that past governments had made it a “much harder test” to investigate, prosecute and convict an Australian than was the intent of the Rome Statute.
He claimed nobody had investigated command responsibility, given the Brereton report gave “blanket exemption” to the higher command.
If Australia is found to be genuinely investigating higher command’s role in the alleged Afghanistan war crimes, then any ICC case on the matter wouldn’t proceed.
Dr Kolomeitz called on the government not to conduct internal ADF enquiries, but to properly investigate allegations of criminality of which command responsibility is a crime.
JTF633 – Joint Task Force 633 – could potentially form the crux of the investigation, given their proximity to the conflict, Dr Kolomeitz said.
If the ICC is satisfied that there are offences made out, they could potentially prosecute in The Hague.
“They could have Australian officers in The Hague facing the court,” Dr Kolomeitz said.
“That’s not very likely … unless the Australian government continue to do nothing and the ICC determined that it warranted a further look.”
Jacqui Lambie issued a fierce warning to senior commanders during the press conference, saying they needed to stop throwing diggers “under the bus”.
“It’s one in all in,” she said. “And if you’re not going to look at yourselves, then bloody oath I’ll make sure you’re looked at.”
https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMizwFodHRwczovL3d3dy5za3luZXdzLmNvbS5hdS9hdXN0cmFsaWEtbmV3cy9hdXN0cmFsaWFuLWFybXktb2ZmaWNlcnMtY291bGQtZnJvbnQtdGhlLWhhZ3VlLWlmLWNvbW1hbmQtcmVzcG9uc2liaWxpdHktaW52ZXN0aWdhdGlvbi1pc250LXRha2VuLXNlcmlvdXNseS1ieS1nb3Zlcm5tZW50L25ld3Mtc3RvcnkvZWMwZGQ4MmQxNzgyOTE1MTQ1ZTc4NjZlYjJkMGY2ZDXSAQA?oc=5
2023-06-20 08:32:28Z
2154949064
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Australian army officers could front ICC in unprecedented investigation - Sky News Australia"
Post a Comment