International Court of Justice - The African Mirror

Apr

2024

By DJAFFAR AL KATANTY and ERIKAS MWISI KAMBALE

Belgium encourages DRC to file complaint against Rwanda at the ICJ

THE Democratic Republic of Congo should file a complaint with the International Court of Justice over Rwanda's failure to respect its border, Belgium's ambassador to Congo said at a meeting to assess the deepening crisis in eastern Congo. Congo has been struggling to push back M23 rebels since they launched a comeback offensive in the already restive east in 2022. The fighting has displaced 738,000 more people in the first three months of this year alone, according to the U.N. aid agency OCHA. The Congolese government, U.N. officials and Western powers including the United States and Belgium have accused Rwanda of providing…

Apr

2024

By The African Mirror

Colombia seeks to join Gaza genocide case against Israel at World Court

WORLD

COLOMBIA has asked the International Court of Justice to allow the country to intervene in South Africa's case accusing Israel of genocide in the Gaza Strip, the court. In its application, Colombia called on the court to ensure "the safety and, indeed, the very existence of the Palestinian people". The ICJ, the highest U.N. court, can allow states to intervene and give their views. Several states have said they would also seek to intervene in the case but so far only Colombia and Nicaragua have filed a public request. Last week ICJ judges ordered Israel to take all necessary and effective action to ensure…

Mar

2024

By The African Mirror

Ireland to intervene in South Africa genocide case against Israel

NEWS

IRELAND said it would intervene in South Africa's genocide case against Israel, in the strongest signal to date of Dublin's concern about Israeli operations in Gaza since October 7. Announcing the move, Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said that while it was for the World Court to decide whether genocide is being committed, he wanted to be clear that Hamas' October 7 attack and what is happening in Gaza now "represents the blatant violation of international humanitarian law on a mass scale." "The taking of hostages. The purposeful withholding of humanitarian assistance to civilians. The targeting of civilians and of civilian infrastructure. The…

Mar

2024

By The African Mirror

South Africa asks World Court for more measures against Israel

NEWS

SOUTH Africa has asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to order additional emergency measures against Israel, which it says is breaching the measures already in place, the U.N.'s top court said. In its application, South Africa warned that Palestinians in Gaza were facing starvation and asked the court to order that all parties cease hostilities and release all hostages and detainees. In a statement issued Wednesday the South African presidency warned that the people of Gaza cannot wait. "The threat of all-out famine has now materialised. The court needs to act now to stop the imminent tragedy by immediately and effectively…

Feb

2024

By STEPHANIE VAN DEN BERG

South Africa asks World Court to find Israeli occupation illegal

NEWS

SOUTH Africa urged the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to issue a non-binding legal opinion that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal, arguing it would help efforts to settle. Representatives of South Africa opened the second day of hearings at the ICJ, also known as the World Court, in the Hague. The hearing follows a request by the U.N. General Assembly for an advisory or non-binding, opinion on the occupation in 2022. More than 50 states will present arguments until February 26. On Monday, Palestinian representatives asked the U.N.'s highest court to declare Israel's occupation of their territory illegal, also…

Feb

2024

By The African Mirror

Israel says South Africa serving Hamas in latest bid to World Court

NEWS

SOUTH Africa's latest request to the World Court against a possible offensive by Israel in southern Gaza serves Hamas and is an attempt to stop Israel from defending itself, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said. South Africa on Tuesday asked The International Court of Justice (ICJ) to consider whether Israel's plan to extend its offensive in Gaza into the city of Rafah requires additional emergency measures to protect Palestinians' rights. Israel has said it is planning to expand its ground assault into Rafah, where over a million Palestinians have sought refuge from the offensive that has laid waste to much of the Gaza Strip since…

Feb

2024

By NELLIE PEYTON

South Africa asks World Court to weigh Israel’s Rafah offensive

NEWS

SOUTH Africa said that it had asked the World Court to consider whether Israel's plan to extend its offensive in Gaza into the city of Rafah requires additional emergency measures to protect Palestinians' rights. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) last month ordered Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent its troops from committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, in a case brought by South Africa. Israel has denied all allegations of genocide in connection with its war against Gaza's ruling Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and asked the court to reject the case outright, saying it respects international law and has a right…

Feb

2024

By ANAIT MIRIDZHANIAN and NELLIE PEYTON

South Africa says all states must stop funding Israel’s military

NEWS

ALL states have an obligation to stop funding and facilitating Israel's military actions in Gaza after the World Court made clear those actions could be genocidal, South Africa's foreign minister said. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) last week ordered Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent its troops from committing genocide and take steps to improve the humanitarian situation of Palestinians in Gaza, in a case brought by South Africa. It stopped short of demanding a ceasefire and has not yet ruled on the core of South Africa's case, whether genocide has occurred in Gaza. That ruling could take years.…

Feb

2024

By The African Mirror

World Court dismisses much of Ukraine’s case against Russia

WORLD

JUDGES at the top U.N. court found that Russia violated elements of a U.N. anti-terrorism treaty, but declined to rule on allegations brought by Kyiv that Moscow was responsible for the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014. In the same ruling, judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found that Russia had breached an anti-discrimination treaty by failing to support Ukrainian language education in Crimea after its 2014 annexation of the peninsula. The decisions were a legal setback for Kyiv. The court rejected Ukraine's requests to order reparations for both violations and only…

Jan

2024

By The African Mirror

UN genocide ruling won’t change Israel’s behaviour: three reasons why

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

SOUTH Africa took Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over the latter’s military operation in Gaza, which South Africa calls acts of genocide. The excessive bombing campaign and wilful destruction of property, life and limb is hardly in dispute. Israel calls it legitimate acts of self-defence, following Hamas’s murderous incursion from Gaza on Israeli terrain on 7 October 2023. Hamas, shorthand for the Islamic Resistance Movement, is a Palestinian Sunni Islamist political and military organisation founded in 1987. It has governed the Gaza Strip of the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories since 2007. ANTHONI VAN NIEUWKERK, Professor of International and…