Colombia presented this Friday a statement of intervention in the case of South Africa against Israel relating to the Genocide Convention.
Last January, the African country accused Israel of violating said Convention and carrying out genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza. In response, the international Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Israel to “take all possible measures” to prevent it.
According to the Court, the Colombian authorities they stressed in its petition “the genuine conviction that the States parties to the Genocide Convention must do everything in their power to help ensure the prevention, repression and punishment of genocide and therefore, help the Court to find the responsibility of any State party to the Convention, for its failure to comply with the obligations contained therein.”
Right to intervene in the procedure
Likewise, the main judicial body of the United Nations detailed that the Latin American nation invoked article 63 of the Statute of the Court to present its statement.
In accordance with this article, whenever the interpretation of an agreement is questioned to which States other than those interested in the matter are parties, each of these States has the right to intervene in the procedure.
Thus, Bogotá considers that this case raises “vital questions regarding the interpretation and application of various provisions of the Genocide Convention” that reflect both “obligations owed to the international community as a whole” and “obligations owed to all States.” party to the treaty, in relation not only to the prohibition of committing genocide, but also to the obligation to prevent it.
“Colombia is deploying efforts aimed at fighting the scourge of genocide and, consequently, ensure that Palestinians enjoy their right to exist as a people“, added the Colombian authorities in their statement.
On the other hand, Colombia clarifies in the text that “it does not intend to be a party” to the procedure, but rather “to assist the Court in the interpretation of the provisions of the Convention.”
If a State makes use of this right, the interpretation given by the Court's ruling will be equally binding.
In accordance with Article 83 of the Rules of Court, South Africa and Israel have been invited to submit written observations on Colombia's intervention statement, the ICJ said.
Nicaragua against Germany
Colombia's statement comes a month after Nicaragua filed a lawsuit before the Court against Germany for “participate in the plausible genocide” that Israel was carrying out in Gaza.
Nicaragua argued that by providing political, financial and military support to Israel and withdrawing financial support from the Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA), “Germany is facilitating the commission of genocide and, in any case, it has failed to fulfill its obligation to do everything possible to prevent it.”
