UK ministers and senior civil servants may be held legally responsible if it is proved that war crimes have been committed by the state of Israel in its conflict with Gaza, a campaign group has warned.
Global Justice Now wrote to the foreign secretary and senior officials to raise the concerns after it commissioned legal advice which found that it is “at least possible” that ministers and civil servants in the UK could be “vicariously liable for war crimes committed by Israeli personnel”.
In a letter to David Lammy and the permanent secretaries in the Foreign Office and Department for Business and Trade, Global Justice Now director Nick Dearden said: “We are writing to advise you that the UK and individuals, including government ministers and senior civil servants, may be liable for crimes committed by the Israeli state or Israeli personnel during the country’s ongoing military operation in Gaza and through the country’s unlawful occupation of Gaza and the West Bank.”
The legal advice, provided to Global Justice Now by Sam Fowles of Cornerstone Barristers, found that “it seems likely that the UK has provided ‘assistance’ to Israel which may have been used to support Israel’s unlawful occupation of the Occupied Territories and/or to assist in the commission of allegedly wrongful acts (including genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity)”.
It says this assistance includes the provision of weapons, military and logistical support, intelligence sharing, economic support and diplomatic support.
Fowles said it is “impossible to comment with any precision on specific cases of individual liability because the relevant information is not in the public domain”. He added, however, that it is “certainly possible that individuals working within the UK government will attract vicarious liability if war crimes charges are made out against Israeli leaders and personnel”.
He gave the following hypothetical example of how ministers or officials could be found vicariously liable and guilty of a war crime: Israeli leaders or personnel are convicted of a war crime, which the UK aided or assisted. UK government ministers or civil servants ordered and/or executed this assistence while knowing that, “in the ordinary course of events”, the assistance was almost certain to facilitate acts subsequently found to be criminal.
Fowles added that there is a “real prospect” that individuals, including ministers and civil servants, may have facilitated the commission of alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. He said there was also a “real prospect" that the UK had the requisite knowledge of the facts of the alleged crimes and that the assistance provided was, in the ordinary course of events, almost certain to facilitate the relevant crime.
“It is at least possible, therefore, that individuals within the UK could be vicariously liable for war crimes committed by Israeli personnel (should such crimes be proved),” his advice states.
The analysis comes after an FCDO official quit over the government’s refusal to halt arms sales to Israel, saying the department “may be complicit in war crimes”.
Global Justice Now is calling for the government to place an immediate and complete arms embargo on Israel and commit to not enter into any free trade agreement with Israel until it has ended its attacks on Gaza and its occupation of the Palestinian territories.
It is also urging the government to suspend trade privileges, agreements and negotiations with Israel with immediate effect; and to suspend cooperation with Israel’s defence sector and any sectors of Israel’s economy involved with the occupation and/or military operation in Gaza.
The group says it hopes the government, which is currently considering whether to place an arms embargo on Israel, will take “the swift and decisive action needed to end UK complicity in Israel’s war crimes”.
The government said on 29 July that it was seeking to develop a new trade deal with Israel. The letter from Dearden points out the legal advice states that “it seems likely that the UK, through its trade relationship with Israel, has helped facilitate the unlawful occupation”.
PCS, the civil service’s biggest union, has also written to top officials over the legal advice, seeking reassurance from Cabinet Office permanent secretary Cat Little that civil servants will not be placed at risk.
Fran Heathcote, PCS's general secretary, said: “Our members should not be placed in a position where they may be at risk of breaking international law.
“We are extremely concerned about this new legal opinion, which is why we’ve demanded an urgent meeting with Cat Little to seek reassurances our members will not be placed in this situation.”
A UK government Spokesperson said: “This government is committed to upholding international law. We have made clear that we will not export items if they might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law.
“There is an ongoing review process to assess whether Israel is complying with international humanitarian law, which the foreign secretary initiated on day one in office. We will provide an update as soon as that review process has been completed.”