U.S. President Joe Biden is facing a legal case, charging him with “failure to prevent—and complicity in—the genocide” of Palestinians in Gaza, which is to be heard in Oakland, California on Jan. 26. Also charged are his named collaborators, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. The lawsuit has been brought by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR).
The CCR stated on Jan. 9: “We expect the International Court of Justice to find that South Africa’s comprehensive application detailing Israel’s genocidal actions meets the standards to issue provisional measures for Israel to end the military assault on Gaza and desist from killing, forcibly displacing, and denying basic necessities of life for Palestinians in Gaza—in effect, ordering measures to stop an unfolding genocide….
“Any findings by the ICJ against Israel will have implications for other State parties—including the U.S.—who have failed to prevent or have been complicit in the genocide, which the Genocide Convention prohibits. We expect the U.S. district court will take very seriously any findings from the ICJ—the world court—in determining the U.S.’s obligations under international and U.S. law.”
Earlier CCR staff attorney Astha Sharma Pokharel had explained: “While the District Court is obviously not bound by the ICJ, it will have to, and the government will have to, contend with the fact that the highest authority, the world court, has issued an order in which it has found that the case of genocide—there’s a plausible case. It will have implications for the United States around both its failure to prevent this genocide and for its complicity.”
Biden’s team contends that the court has no jurisdiction over U.S. foreign policy decisions.
