More than 100 lawyers endorsed the referral, which points to the military, intelligence, and rhetorical support Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has provided to the Israeli government.
Albanese and Joe Biden in October, 2023 -- public domain image
By Julia Conley, Common Dreams
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is one of several Western leaders who have provided political and material support of the Israeli government and military over the past five months as their bombardment of Gaza has killed more than 30,000 people, but on Monday he became the first to be referred to the International Criminal Court for being an "accessory to genocide."
More than 100 lawyers supported the referral under Article 15 of the Rome Statute, arguing that Albanese, a member of the Labor Party, as well as members of his Cabinet and of Parliament, have provided Israel with "rhetorical support in their public statements, their press conferences, their speeches" as well as material assistance, as attorney Sheryn Omeri told ABC's "News Breakfast."
Omeri said the aid Australia has "most particularly" provided since Israel began attacking Gaza has been the export of F-35 fighter jet parts as well as military intelligence through the government's surveillance work at Joint Defense Facility Pine Gap in Australia's Northern Territory.
While Albanese has recently called on Israel to respect international law, said Omeri, "it's been months since the 7th of October, 2023, and between then and now there has been very little in the way of urging restraint on Israel and discouraging what the International Court of Justice found on the 26th of January was a plausible case of genocide."
The 92-page document compiled by the legal team lays out a number of specific ways Albanese and other Australian officials have acted as an accessory to genocide, including:
Freezing $6 million in funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East amid a humanitarian crisis based on unsubstantiated claims by Israel;
Providing military aid and approving defense exports to Israel, which could be used by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in the course of the prima facie commission of genocide and crimes against humanity;
Ambiguously deploying an Australian military contingent to the region, where its location and exact role have not been disclosed; and
Permitting Australians, either explicitly or implicitly, to travel to Israel to join the IDF and take part in its attacks on Gaza.
"The Rome Statute provides four modes of individual criminal responsibility, two of which are accessorial," Omeri explained in a statement.
Along with Albanese, U.S. President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz are among the Western leaders who have repeatedly defended Israel's actions in Gaza—despite the genocidal intent expressed in numerous public statements by Israeli leaders.
Biden was sued in federal court in January for alleged "complicity in the Israeli government's unfolding genocide." That case is still making its way through the U.S. appeals process.
Julia Conley is a staff writer for Common Dreams.
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