Britain has proposed legal changes restricting citizens' right to seek the arrest of foreign politicians for alleged war crimes, tackling an issue that has caused tension with Israel, officials said on Wednesday. Human rights group Amnesty International condemned the planned change, accusing the government of handing war criminals "a free ticket to escape the law".
The proposals, part of police reform legislation introduced into parliament on Tuesday, fulfil a promise of the seven-month-old coalition government to amend a law that has drawn protests from Israel.
Under existing British law, private individuals can start criminal prosecutions, including for international war crimes, by applying to a magistrate for a court summons or an arrest warrant. Magistrates do not need to decide whether there is a realistic chance of conviction. Under the proposed new law, which could take months to make its way through parliament, the Director of Public Prosecutions would have to agree to an arrest warrant being issued in such a case.
"This is to ensure that people suspected of some of the most heinous crimes, wherever in the world they took place, can still be brought to justice in our courts but ... only where there is a prospect of successful prosecution," a Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said.
Foreign Secretary William Hague said Britain's core principle remained that people guilty of war crimes must be brought to justice. The proposed legal change was designed to correct an anomaly that allowed "the UK's systems to be abused for political reasons," he said in a statement. Israel said last month it had stopped sending delegations to Britain for routine strategic talks out of fear pro-Palestinian activists would seek their arrest for alleged war crimes.
Last year, a British court issued an arrest warrant for former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni on war crimes charges but withdrew it upon finding she had cancelled a planned trip to Britain, according to media reports. The Israeli government summoned the British ambassador to protest over the incident. Israel's Foreign Ministry has said that the legal jeopardy faced by Israeli politicians and military officers could damage Britain's efforts to play a role in Middle East peacemaking.
Amnesty International's UK director, Kate Allen, said the proposed amendment sent the wrong signal and showed Britain was "soft" on war crimes and torture. "The current process allows victims of crimes under international law to act quickly against suspected perpetrators," she said in a statement.