Paris, 27 November 2024. While France pledged to "vigorously apply its obligation" with regard to the arrest warrants issued by the ICC against Netanyahu and Gallant on 26 November 2024, its position was contradicted the following day by a statement from the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, which deliberately engaged in disinformation regarding the alleged immunity for "States not party to the ICC". Such immunity is explicitly contradicted by the Rome Statute, which France itself has ratified. Article 27(2) states that any "Immunities or special procedural rules which may attach to the official capacity of a person [...] shall not bar the Court from exercising its jurisdiction over such a person."
"The arrest warrants of the ICC are non-negotiable", asserts Alexis Deswaef, FIDH vice-president of FIDH and a lawyer mandated by the ICC. "These are decisions made by judges based on the material evidence of international crimes. Announcing that one intends to continue working closely with an individual who is the subject of an arrest warrant for war crimes and crimes against humanity is a complete disgrace."
"Such remarks are unacceptable and fall short of the rigour and competence expected of French diplomacy", said Nathalie Tehio, President of the LDH. "Such suspicion of the effectiveness of international law dangerously undermines it at a time when it is urgently needed. France must immediately rectify its statements and reiterate that it will implement the decisions of the ICC. There was no question of immunity for Mr Putin: this double standard is damaging to France’s reputation, particularly in relation to the countries of the South."
A statement contrary to case law
The jurisprudence of the ICC confirms this. On 24 October 2024, Pre-Trial Chamber II of the ICC concluded that "by failing to arrest Mr Putin while he was on its territory and surrender him to the Court, Mongolia has failed to comply with the Court’s request to cooperate in this regard contrary to the provisions of the Rome Statute (“Statute”), thereby preventing the Court from exercising its functions and powers within the meaning of article 87(7) of the Statute."
The Chamber also affirmed that "personal immunity, including that of Heads of State, is not opposable before the ICC, and no waiver is required. States Parties and those accepting the Court’s jurisdiction are duty-bound to arrest and surrender individuals subject to ICC warrants, regardless of official position or nationality."