Please join the global appeal to organizations to endorse the Palestinian refugees’ call to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the enforcement of U.N. Resolution 194 pursuant to Article 15 of the Rome Statute Concerning the Ongoing Denial of the Right of Return of Palestinian Refugees by signing the following petition.
We, the undersigned, call upon the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC to initiate an investigation pursuant to Article 15 of the Rome Statute into the ongoing crimes associated with the forced displacement of the Palestinian people and the systematic denial of their right to return to their homes and lands since 1948.
The mass displacement of Palestinians during the Nakba was not a closed historical event. The continued prevention of refugees from returning to their homes, villages and properties constitutes an ongoing and continuous crime under international law. This prolonged policy of exclusion, dispossession, persecution and denial of fundamental rights has subjected millions of Palestinian refugees to decades of statelessness, discrimination and injustice.
We affirm that the ongoing denial of the right of return may constitute crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute, including persecution, forcible transfer of population, apartheid and other inhumane acts. Furthermore, the continued destruction and depopulation of Palestinian villages and the systematic obstruction of return may also amount to war crimes and could rise to the level of genocide when examined within the broader framework of intent, destruction and erasure of a protected national group.
This petition further asserts that the ICC possesses territorial jurisdiction over these crimes, because their effects continue to extend into the territory of State Parties to the Rome Statute, including the State of Palestine and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, where millions of Palestinian refugees continue to reside.
We therefore urge the Office of the Prosecutor to:
- Recognize the ongoing forced displacement and denial of return as continuing international crimes under the jurisdiction of the Court.
- Open a preliminary examination and investigation into policies and practices that prevent Palestinian refugees from exercising their internationally recognized right of return.
- Accept and document testimonies of Palestinian refugees as part of an official legal process aimed at preserving evidence and advancing accountability.
- Uphold and reinforce the principles established in international law, including U.N. General Assembly Resolution 194, which affirms the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and receive restitution and compensation.
- Contribute to international efforts seeking justice, accountability and a just and lasting resolution to the Palestinian refugee question.
We believe that justice delayed cannot erase the rights of millions of refugees whose displacement remains an open wound in modern history. The continued denial of return is not merely a political issue but a matter of international criminal accountability and fundamental human rights.
The voices and testimonies of Palestinian refugees must no longer remain outside the framework of international justice.
Palestinian refugees’ associations and depopulated villages in collaboration with One Democratic State of Palestine, Law for Palestine, have launched a global appeal to organizations (human rights, international law, Palestine solidarity movements and antiwar, anti-imperialist movements; labor, women’s and students’ unions; political parties and leaders) to endorse the Palestinian refugees’ call to the ICC for the enforcement of U.N. Resolution 194 by signing this statement at tinyurl.com/EnforceUN194.
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