The US Justice Department is reportedly backing a bid by the United Nations to provide legal immunity to UNRWA employees involved in the atrocities of October 7th.
By World Israel News Staff
The United Nations has filed paperwork in an American court in a bid to secure legal immunity for suspected participants in the October 7th atrocities in southwestern Israel who were employed by a UN agency at the time of the massacres, Channel 12 News reported Saturday night.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA, has been under fire following revelations that a number of its employees have ties to Gaza terrorist groups including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Furthermore, a number of UNRWA employees are suspected of having taking part in the invasion of Israel on October 7th and the subsequent massacres and other atrocities.
While Israel provided the UN with information on over 100 UNRWA employees suspected of being active members in Hamas, the agency performed an internal investigation on only 19 of the employees, finding that 9 of them “may have been involved” in the October 7th atrocities, the UN’s Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) ruled.
Now, according to Saturday’s report, the UN is working to shield the suspects from prosecution, relying on the functional immunity provided to the organization’s employees.
In its filing with an American court, the UN invoked its functional immunity, arguing that pending legal action against UNRWA should be dismissed.
“Since the UN has not waived immunity in this instance, its subsidiary, UNRWA, continues to enjoy absolute immunity from prosecution, and the lawsuit should be dismissed,” the UN is quoted as writing in the filing.
The Justice Department has reportedly given its endorsement of the UN’s invocation of immunity.
“The plaintiff’s complaint does not present a legal basis for claiming that the United Nations waived its immunity. Therefore, because the UN has not waived immunity in this case, its subsidiary, UNRWA, retains full immunity, and the lawsuit against UNRWA should be dismissed due to lack of subject matter jurisdiction.”
While the functional immunity does not bar the victims harmed on October 7th or relatives of those murdered from seeking damages from the United Nations for the actions of their employees, it does raise legal challenges to such law suits, requiring that the plaintiffs prove the need to strip the UNRWA employees of their immunity.