Sign up for our breaking news emails to get real-time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox for free
Sign up for free breaking news emails
Shortly after World War II and the Holocaust in Nazi Germany killed six million Jews, the world rallied around the now-familiar pledge: “Never Again.”
An important part of that noble aspiration was the drafting of a treaty that codifies and commits nations to preventing and punishing a new crime: the crime of crimes, also known as genocide.
This treaty was created in 1948, when Israel was created as a Jewish state. The country is now being accused before the United Nations' highest court of committing the very crimes that are deeply woven into its national identity.
The reason the Genocide Convention exists, says Mary Ellen O'Connell, “is directly related to the[Nazi]Third Reich's efforts to eliminate the Jewish people, not only in Germany but also in Eastern Europe and Russia.” Ta. , professor of law and international peace studies at the Kroc Institute at the University of Notre Dame.
Now, in response to Israel's devastating military offensive in the Gaza Strip, which began with murders and atrocities committed by Hamas militants on October 7, South Africa has filed a lawsuit with the International Court of Justice, accusing Israel of genocide. did. Israel rejects this claim and accuses Pretoria of providing political cover for Hamas.
South Africa also asked the 17-judge panel to issue nine emergency orders, known as interim measures. While the tribunal considers both sides' legal claims, they are aimed at protecting civilians in Gaza. First and foremost, the court will order Israel to “immediately cease military operations in and against Gaza.”
On Friday, Judge Joan E. Donahue, the U.S. president of the court, will read the decision in a hearing.
More information on past genocide crimes and other incidents can be found here.
What is genocide?
The 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide defines this crime as an act “committed with the intention of destroying, in whole or in part, the very national, ethnic, racial or religious group”. are doing. The act is listed as murder. Causing serious physical or psychological harm. Deliberately inflicting living conditions calculated to bring about the total or partial physical destruction of a population. Imposing measures aimed at preventing childbirth. and forcibly deporting children.
This article is repeated in the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court, as one of the crimes under its jurisdiction, along with war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes of aggression. The ICC is independent from the International Court of Justice, which prosecutes individuals and adjudicates disputes between states.
In written submissions and at a public hearing earlier this month, South Africa alleges acts of genocide by Israeli forces, including the killing of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, inflicting serious psychological and physical harm, and causing “collective bodily harm”. “He intentionally created conditions that were intended to cause total destruction.” ”
Israel has vigorously disputed South Africa's claims, saying it was acting in self-defense against what it called a genocidal threat to its survival posed by Hamas.
How do you prove genocide?
In addition to establishing one or more of the underlying crimes enumerated in the Convention, a key element of genocide is intent, i.e. The intention is to destroy it. It's difficult to prove.
Marieke de Hoon, associate professor of international law at the University of Amsterdam, said: “The most important thing is that whatever happens, these crimes are committed because they are done with the specific intention of destroying a group. There is no other valid reason.” .
Mr O'Connell said: “Can you prove that the mass killing of these people was intentional by the government?” Or…the government waged a war and during that war many of this particular group died, but… , wasn’t that the government’s intention?”
In hearings and detailed written submissions to the ICJ earlier this month, South Africa cited comments from Israeli officials that it said demonstrated its intentions.
Malcolm Shaw, an international law expert with Israel's legal team, said the comments highlighted by South Africa were “random citations that do not follow government policy”.
Has the ICJ ever handed down a genocide decision?
In 2007, the court ruled that Serbia “breached its obligation to prevent genocide” in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, in which Bosnian Serb forces rounded up and killed around 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the Bosnian region. It was decided that
Two other genocide cases are currently pending in court. Immediately after the Russian invasion nearly two years ago, Ukraine launched a military operation based on fabricated claims of genocide and filed a lawsuit accusing Russia of planning acts of genocide in Ukraine. In this case, the court ordered Russia to stop the invasion, but Russia ignored the order.
In another incident, The Gambia is representing Muslim countries in accusing Myanmar of genocide against the Rohingya Muslim minority. The Gambia filed the lawsuit on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
Both Gambia and South Africa have filed ICJ lawsuits in disputes in which they are not directly involved. That's because the Genocide Convention includes a provision that allows individual countries, even those not involved, to ask the United Nations to take action to prevent or suppress acts of violence. be. Genocide.
Have other international courts prosecuted genocide?
Two now-defunct United Nations tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda both dealt with crimes such as genocide.
A Yugoslav court has convicted defendants, including former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and military commander General Ratko Mladic, of genocide for their role in the Srebrenica massacre.
The Rwandan Tribunal, headquartered in Arusha, Tanzania, was the first international tribunal to convict Jean Paul Akayesu of genocide and other crimes and sentenced him to life in prison in 1998. It became. He was convicted for his role in Rwanda. In the 1994 genocide, extremists from the Hutu majority massacred around 800,000 people, most of them members of the Tutsi minority. The court convicted 62 defendants for their role in the genocide.
The International Criminal Court has charged ousted Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir with genocide in the Darfur region. He has not been produced in court to stand trial. Al-Bashir's government responded to the 2003 uprising with an air campaign and an operation to liberate a militia known as the Janjaweed, which has been accused of mass murder and rape. Up to 300,000 people were killed and 2.7 million were forced to flee their homes.
A mixed domestic and international tribunal in Cambodia has convicted three members of the Khmer Rouge, whose brutal rule in the 1970s killed an estimated 1.7 million people. Two of them were convicted of genocide.
___
Associated Press writer Danica Kirka in London contributed.