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3w ago

RCMP to Collect Information on Possible Israel-Hamas War Crimes

The force has faced technical delays in launching its secure portal for public submissions required to build cases under Canada’s War Crimes Act.

People carry boxes of relief supplies from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in the central Gaza Strip on May 29. The RCMP says it has a protocol to triage and process information related to global conflicts as a standard initial procedure.
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Mark Kersten is a fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto and the deputy director of the Wayamo Foundation.

Overview

  • The RCMP launched a proactive information-gathering phase in early 2024 to assess alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity stemming from the October 2023 Israel-Hamas conflict.
  • No criminal investigations are currently open and any future probe will hinge on identifying individuals with a Canadian nexus who meet the legal thresholds of Canada’s Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act.
  • A secure, multilingual online portal is being developed to gather open-source material, witness testimony and voluntary public submissions, but its rollout has been delayed by technical issues.
  • The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs warned that public discussion of war crimes investigations risks fostering false narratives and a rise in antisemitic violence.
  • Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East has called on the RCMP to investigate Canadian citizens serving in the Israeli military in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon and Syria.