Craig Murray, former British Ambassador to Uzbekistan, and a sharp critic of British policy, in the Jan. 3 article on his website, [“Sunak, Cleverly and Shapps Could Be in the Old Bailey Dock for Genocide,”] (https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2024/01/sunak-cleverly-and-shapps-could-be-in-the-old-bailey-dock-for-genocide/), writes that the current South African government lawsuit against Israel before the International Court of Justice, claiming Israeli genocide against Gazan civilians, can possibly open up putting British officials on trial.
Murray states, “Expect the U.K. to intervene on Israel’s side in the South African case against Israel for genocide at the International Court of Justice. If Israel loses, British ministers, civil servants and military personnel could end up in the dock for genocide—not only in The Hague, but in the U.K.”
Murray explains:”The Genocide Convention was explicitly incorporated into U.K. law in 1969 by the Genocide Act. However, the Genocide Act was repealed in 2001 and replaced by Section 51 of the International Criminal Court Act. Still in that Section 51, there still exists a potent weapon under the section ‘Genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes,’ namely point (2b), which reads, ‘This section applies to acts committed outside the United Kingdom by a United Kingdom national, a United Kingdom resident or a person subject to U.K. service jurisdiction.’”
He follows this up, saying that Section 53 of this Act covers aiding and abetting genocide, and asks: “What has the U.K. government done to aid and abet the genocide [in Gaza]? He answers: “It has:
“1) Actively encouraged and incited genocide, including by the systematic obstruction of ceasefire resolutions at the U.N. Security Council;
“2) Provided military equipment to Israel, with dozens of flights from [Royal Air Force base] RAF Akrotiri to Israel during the course of the genocide itself;
