By threatening the ICC, David Cameron disgraced Britain
By threatening the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor, former British Foreign Secretary David Cameron has joined Russian President Vladimir Putin among a small group of unsavoury world leaders who have menaced or bullied the ICC.
In plain English, the former foreign secretary (and former prime minister) has been caught red-handed in an attempt to pervert the course of justice.
The motive for Cameron’s appalling conduct: a determination to protect Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister, Yoav Gallant, from war crimes charges.
In the words of the ICC, these war crimes included “starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts”.
Cameron told ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan that issuing an arrest warrant against Netanyahu and Gallant would be “like dropping a hydrogen bomb”.
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Cameron’s contempt for the rule of law and readiness to resort to menace and intimidation is standard procedure from the likes of Putin, Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump.
But Britain is a country that prides itself on respect for the rule of law. We claim to be part of a moral international order. We ought to be better than that - much better.
No excuses
The fact that Cameron resorted to menace in order to protect the reputation of Netanyahu, a suspected war criminal, places Britain as a part of a group of gangster nations and rogue states for whom might is right.
Cameron has therefore disgraced himself and the Conservative Party - and above all, he has disgraced Britain.
There are no excuses. He cannot claim inexperience. Cameron was British prime minister for six years, and he had been brought back as foreign secretary when he sought to intimidate Khan.
So far, there has been no response from the Foreign Office or Downing Street to Middle East Eye’s revelations about Cameron’s despicable behaviour. The Foreign Office declined to comment in response to an MEE request.
That silence is deafening. To avoid Britain’s reputation being permanently besmirched, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has a duty to come out and make a statement, conveying that he is horrified and disgusted by Cameron’s conduct as foreign secretary.
He also needs to restate Britain’s commitment to the ICC and the values it embodies. This intervention is all the more urgent, because putting pressure on the ICC could constitute a criminal act under British domestic law as well as international law.
The Rome Statute that established the ICC does not just prosecute those who commit war crimes. It also criminalises those who seek to prevent war crimes from being prosecuted.
The relevant passage of the Rome Statute, Article 70, awards the court jurisdiction over those responsible for “impeding, intimidating or corruptly influencing an official of the Court for the purpose of forcing or persuading the official not to perform, or to perform improperly, his or her duties”.
Cameron’s threat to “defund the court and withdraw from the Rome Statute” falls squarely within ICC jurisdiction.
Reckless actions
There are also potential consequences under domestic law. Section 54 (1) of the International Criminal Court Act 2001 notes: “A person intentionally committing any of the acts mentioned in article 70.1 (offences against the administration of justice in relation to the ICC) may be dealt with as for the corresponding domestic offence committed in relation to a superior court in England and Wales.”
In short, Cameron now finds himself in hot water. One lawyer with whom I spoke last night, while not conversant with all the details, told me that in his judgment, the case for a prosecution is strong.
A British foreign secretary tried to subvert the course of justice. Cameron needs to break his silence and to explain himself
In Britain, the maximum penalty for perverting the course of justice is life imprisonment, though in practice sentences are likely to be much lower.
Leaving aside the possible long-term consequences of Cameron’s reckless behaviour, the immediate political reverberations are immense.
Britain is a country that prides itself on the rule of law. We claim to be part of the rules-based international order.
To his eternal credit, Khan, a British citizen, stood up to Cameron’s threats. But the inescapable fact remains that a British foreign secretary tried to subvert the course of justice.
Cameron needs to break his silence and to explain himself. Meanwhile, Starmer would be well-advised to order an urgent enquiry into the shocking revelation that Cameron sought to intimidate the chief prosecutor of the ICC.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
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