Can Israeli officials be brought to book under the principle of universal jurisdiction?
Gen. Pinochet is a good example of universal jurisdiction in action. The British detained him and decided that he could be extradited for the crime of torture. The Foreign Secretary, at the last moment, said he was unfit to stand trial. Some people, like Rumsfeld and Henry Kissinger, are now very reluctant to travel. They never know what could happen. There is an effect. Israel has warned some of its officials not to travel to certain countries. States such as the U.S. and Israel have been using economic blockade as a weapon to subdue states. The blockade on Cuba is five decades old. To some extent Cuba is a little different. Cuba had a powerful friend in the Soviet Union. Cuba was also a country that was sufficiently big. It had agricultural land and had enough outside contact. The U.S. was not effective in persuading anybody to join the blockade. The blockade kept Cuba poor and it made socialism look like an unsuccessful strategy for development although Cuba developed the best healt
