By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS | 5 January 2024 (IDN) — South Africa’s case against Israel, that will go before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on January 11-12, is being backed by Turkey and Malaysia, along with a coalition of non-governmental and human rights organizations.
But it is expected to gather wider support before the scheduled hearing in The Hague next week.
Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oncu Keceli was quoted as saying that those responsible for the killing of tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza “must be held accountable before international law.”
“Israel’s murder of more than 22,000 Palestinian civilians, the majority of whom were women and children, in Gaza for nearly three months should not go unpunished in any way,” Keceli said.
“We hope that the process will be completed as soon as possible,” he declared, according to a report in Common Dreams, a US news website.
In a statement released January 2, the Malaysian Foreign Ministry said it welcomes the application by South Africa instituting proceedings against Israel before the ICJ concerning the violations by Israel of its obligations under the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (the “Genocide Convention”) in relation to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The application by South Africa also includes a request for the Court to indicate provisional or short-term measures ordering Israel to stop its military campaign in Gaza in order to protect against further harm to the rights of the Palestinian people under the Genocide Convention, and to ensure Israel’s compliance with its obligations under the Convention, the Ministry said.
“The legal action against Israel before ICJ is a timely and tangible step towards legal accountability for Israel’s atrocities in Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) at large. As a fellow State Party to the Genocide Convention, Malaysia calls on Israel to fulfil its obligations under international law and to immediately end its atrocities against Palestinians.”
Malaysia reiterates its call for a durable solution by granting the Palestinians their own independent and sovereign State, based on the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, the statement declared.
International coalition
Meanwhile, the International Coalition to Stop Genocide in Palestine has called for “the urgent need for nations to invoke the Genocide Convention as a way to end the State of Israel’s devastating bombing campaign and additional war crimes being committed in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.”
The Coalition—which includes Progressive International, the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, Black Alliance for Peace, Popular Resistance, CODEPINK, the National Lawyers Guild—has said it supports the call issued on January 2 by the Palestinian Anti-Apartheid Coordinating Committee (PAACC) urging governments to support South Africa’s complaint with Declarations of Intervention, which can be filed before or after the ICJ hearing.
“It’s imperative that more states follow South Africa’s historic leadership demanding Israel is held accountable under international law,” said Suzanne Adely, president of the National Lawyers Guild and member of the Bureau of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers.
“One clear and immediate way to do that is to file Declarations of Intervention supporting South Africa’s filing in the ICJ under the Genocide Convention. The increasing global isolation of Israel and the US and their European allies is an indicator that this is a key moment for popular movements to move their governments in the direction of taking these steps and being on the right side of history.”
Adely led an international delegation to Cairo last November to demand the opening of Rafah border crossing.
Ajamu Baraka, chair of the coordinating committee of the Black Alliance for Peace, which has repeatedly condemned Israel’s ongoing genocidal campaign in occupied Palestine, said: “The action by the South African government is a courageous attempt to do no less than salvage the credibility of the international mechanisms that were meant to protect human rights and international law,
“The South African petition is a reminder that it is a legal and moral imperative for states and international civil society to oppose impunity. Genocide has been identified as one of the most egregious international crimes. If the Israeli state and its backers are allowed to escape justice and international condemnation, it will strip the current international system of justice of any legitimacy.” Baraka declared.
The World Court
The ICJ, also known as the World Court, is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, established by the UN Charter in June 1945, and is composed of 15 judges elected for a nine-year term by the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations.
The Court has a twofold role: first, to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by States; and, second, to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by duly authorized United Nations organs and agencies of the system.
According to an ICJ press release, South Africa’s application instituting proceedings against Israel concerns alleged violations by Israel of its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (the “Genocide Convention”) in relation to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
According to the Application, “acts and omissions by Israel . . . are genocidal in character, as they are committed with the requisite specific intent . . . to destroy Palestinians in Gaza as a part of the broader Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group” and that “the conduct of Israel — through its State organs, State agents, and other persons and entities acting on its instructions or under its direction, control or influence—in relation to Palestinians in Gaza, is in violation of its obligations under the Genocide Convention”.
South Africa further states that “Israel, since 7 October 2023 in particular, has failed to prevent genocide and has failed to prosecute the direct and public incitement to genocide” and that “Israel has engaged in, is engaging in and risks further engaging in genocidal acts against the Palestinian people in Gaza”.
South Africa seeks to found the Court’s jurisdiction on Article 36, paragraph 1, of the Statute of the Court and on Article IX of the Genocide Convention, to which both South Africa and Israel are parties.
The Application also contains a Request for the indication of provisional measures, pursuant to Article 41 of the Statute of the Court and Articles 73, 74 and 75 of the Rules of Court.
The Applicant requests the Court to indicate provisional measures in order to “protect against further, severe and irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people under the Genocide Convention” and “to ensure Israel’s compliance with its obligations under the Genocide Convention not to engage in genocide, and to prevent and to punish genocide”.
Pursuant to Article 74 of the Rules of Court, “[a] request for the indication of provisional measures shall have priority over all other cases”.
Meanwhile, Israel has said it will appear before the ICJ to defend itself against the accusations.
“The State of Israel will appear before the International Court of Justice at The Hague to dispel South Africa’s absurd blood libel,” spokesman Eylon Levy said.
“We assure South Africa’s leaders, history will judge you, and it will judge you without mercy,” Levy said. [IDN-InDepthNews]
Photo: A blood-stained baby crib and a ravaged room on the aftermath of the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack and massacres on Israel. Credit: Spokesperson unit of ZAKA (Israel’s dominant non-governmental rescue and recovery organization).
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