France, Italy, Greece must explain allowing 'safe passage' to ICC-wanted Netanyahu to US: UN expert
Iran Press TV
Wednesday, 09 July 2025 3:19 PM
UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese says Rome Statute member states—France, Italy, and Greece—must explain why they provided "safe passage" to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu en route to the United States.
Netanyahu is an internationally wanted suspect under an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Gaza.
In a post on X, Albanese said the three European countries — all signatories to the Rome Statute, which established the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2002 — violated the international legal order by allowing Netanyahu to transit through their airspace despite an active ICC arrest warrant.
As ICC members, she said, they were theoretically "obligated to arrest" Netanyahu.
"Italian, French, and Greek citizens deserve to know that every political action violating the international legal order weakens and endangers all of them. And all of us," she wrote.
Albanese was responding to a post by human rights lawyer Craig Mokhiber, who said the countries had "breached their legal obligations under the treaty [Rome Statute], have declared their disdain for the victims of genocide, and have demonstrated their contempt for the rule of law."
Netanyahu is currently on his third US visit since President Donald Trump took office on January 20.
During a previous trip in February, his plane was forced to take a detour to avoid flying over countries that might enforce the ICC arrest warrant. The United States is not a party to the Rome Statute and therefore not bound by its provisions.
In June, Trump's administration imposed sanctions on four judges at the International Criminal Court over the war tribunal's issuance of an arrest warrant for Netanyahu.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
