In this episode of the Wire Primetime, Heidi Matthews, Professor of International Law at the Osgoode Hall Law School, York University in Canada speaks to Siddharth Varadarajan about the case Nicaragua has filed in the International Court of Justice against Germany for “facilitating the commission of genocide” by Israel in the Gaza Strip by supplying lethal weaponry to Israel and defunding the UN Relief Works Agency – the sole relief pipeline for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip who are now on the bring of famine.
In January 2024, South Africa moved the ICJ seeking provisional measures against Israel under the Genocide Convention. On January 26, the ICJ ruled that “at least some of the acts and omissions alleged by South Africa to have been committed by Israel in Gaza appear to be capable of falling within the provisions of the [Genocide] Convention.”
Since the crime of genocide requires intent, the court noted South Africa’s claim that “genocidal intent is evident from the way in which Israel’s military attack is being conducted, from the clear pattern of conduct of Israel in Gaza and from the statements made by Israeli officials” and ruled that the facts of the case “are sufficient to conclude that at least some of the rights claimed by South Africa and for which it is seeking protection are plausible. This is the case with respect to the right of the Palestinians in Gaza to be protected from acts of genocide…”
Regrettably, the ICJ’s landmark ruling – at this preliminary stage of South Africa’s case – has failed to deter Israel, which has continued its attacks on Gaza’s civilian population.
Moreover, Israel’s main diplomatic and military backers – notably the United States and Germany but also Italy, the UK and others – have continued with business as usual, selling weapons despite the likelihood that this makes them complicit in the commission of genocide. I should note in passing that India too may have transferred military drones to Israel since the Israeli attack began.
On March 1, Nicaragua instituted proceedings at the ICJ – again under the Genocide Convention – accusing Germany, which is the second largest supplier of lethal arms to Israel, of violating its obligations under the Genocide Convention in relation to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly the Gaza Strip. Nicaragua also invoked the Geneva Conventions and their additional protocols.
According to SIPRI, Germany accounts for 30% of Israeli arms imports over the past decade, while the US sold 69%. In 2023, according to the FORENSIS report on arms sales to Israel, Germany “was the second largest supplier of “major conventional arms” to Israel, responsible for 47% of Israel’s total imports, following the US at 53%.”
Nicaragua argues that by providing political, financial and military support to Israel and by defunding the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), “Germany is facilitating the commission of genocide and, in any case has failed in its obligation to do everything possible to prevent the commission of genocide”.
Nicaragua has asked the ICJ to indicate five provisional measures – of which there are two main ones.
First, that Germany be ordered to immediately “suspend its aid to Israel, in particular its military assistance including military equipment, in so far as this aid may be used in the violation of the Genocide Convention, international humanitarian law or other peremptory norms of general international law such as the Palestinian People’s right to self-determination and to not be subject to a regime of apartheid;
Second, Germany must reverse its decision to suspend the funding of UNRWA as part of the compliance of its obligations to prevent genocide and acts of genocide and the violation of the humanitarian rights of the Palestinian People which also includes the obligation to do everything possible to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches the
Palestinian people, more particularly in Gaza.
Matthews has specialised in international criminal law and the laws of war and has legal experience at the Special Court for Sierra Leone and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. Her doctoral dissertation, “From Aggression to Atrocity: Interrogating the Jus in Bello Turn in International Criminal Law”, was awarded Harvard Law School’s Laylin Prize.
