By IRNA,
London : Britain’s Conservative-led government Thursday repeated its pledge to change the law to prevent Israeli leaders from being arrested for alleged war crimes, even though it is opposed by its Liberal Democrat coalition partners.
“A suitable legislative amendment will be brought before parliament at the first opportunity,” Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke said in a statement ahead of the House of Commons adjourning for its summer recess next week.
On Tuesday, Clarke told MPs that the government was still “urgently considering how to proceed” with its pre-election pledge made in the Jewish Chronicle that “universal jurisdiction will be amended at the earliest opportunity to enable Israelis to visit the UK”. But in his statement, he said the government has concluded “it would be appropriate to require the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions before an arrest warrant can be issued to a private prosecutor in respect of an offence of universal jurisdiction.”
Clarke insisted that Britain’s commitment remained “unwavering” to in its commitment and international obligations under the Geneva Conventions Act to ensure that there is no impunity for those accused of war crimes.
The amendment, he said, “would interfere as little as possible with the existing rights of private prosecutors, and would not prevent them from initiating prosecutions for these offences where the evidence justified that course.”
Foreign Secretary William Hague disclosed in May that the new coalition government with the Liberal Democrats had “not yet determined the exact action that we will take on universal jurisdiction.”
“This is a coalition Government and we have to discuss together the way forward, although we are absolutely clear that the current situation cannot be sustained,” Hague said.
It comes after the previous Labour government also pledged to change the law last December when former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni was forced to cancel a visit to the UK after an arrest warrant for alleged war crimes was issued in London.
But the attempt was thwarted by 145 MPs signing an Early Day Motion to parliament warning that they would vote against any change to the law that allows the public to apply for arrest warrants for suspected war criminals.
Among those opposing were 53 of the current 62 Lib Dem MPs, including two who are now cabinet ministers, Business Secretary Vince Cable and Energy Secretary Chris Huhne as well as 11 more who hold ministerial posts.
During the election, the Lib Dems further made clear in a party statement its opposition to any changes to prevent Israeli leaders being arrested for war crimes, saying it “opposed to any dilution of the law that would help those suspected of war crimes evade justice.”
“If there are flaws in the current system we would support changes in legislation, but only following a thorough judicial review. There can be no special cases for individual countries,” it said.