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Law and JusticeGermany


GERMANY PRESENTS DEFENSE AT ICJ OVER GAZA 'GENOCIDE' CLAIM

Published 04/09/2024Published April 9, 2024last updated 04/09/2024last updated
April 9, 2024

Nicaragua has brought Germany before the International Court of Justice on
charges of facilitating genocide in Gaza. Germany has rebuked the claims.

https://p.dw.com/p/4eZ6M
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Germany's legal team dismissed Nicaragua's claim that it is aiding in a
"genocide" in GazaImage: Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu/picture alliance
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Germany on Tuesday blamed Nicaragua for having a "one-sided" view of the
Israel-Hamas war. 

Berlin was defending itself at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against
charges brought by Nicaragua that its support for Israel enables genocide and
breaches of international humanitarian law in Gaza.

The head of Germany's legal team, Tania von Uslar-Gleichen, said Nicaragua's
case ignores "facts and the law."

She said the Nicaragua case was rushed, based on flimsy evidence, and should be
thrown out due to the lack of jurisdiction.

"Where Germany has provided support to Israel, including in a form of export of
arms and other military equipment, the quality and purposes of these supplies
have been grossly distorted by Nicaragua," she said. "Unlike Nicaragua, Germany
is not blind to the fact that Hamas also has obligations under international
humanitarian law." 





Nicaragua has asked the UN's highest court, also known as the World Court, for
emergency measures to stop German military arms exports to Israel and reverse
its decision to stop funding the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA.

It follows a separate case in January when the court ordered Israel to take
"every possible measure" to avoid genocidal acts in its war against Palestinian
militants in Gaza, after South Africa accused Israel of genocide.

Israel has denied that its operation in Gaza amounts to genocidal acts, saying
it is acting in self-defense after Hamas-led militants stormed into southern
Israel on October 7 and killed more than 1,200 people, including around 800
civilians.


GERMAN ARMS EXPORTS TO ISRAEL

On Monday, Nicaragua pointed out that Berlin remains one of the major arms
exporters to Israel. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research
Institute, Germany is the second-largest supplier of arms to Israel after the
US.

"The picture presented by Nicaragua is at best inaccurate, and at worst, it is a
deliberate misrepresentation of the actual situation," Christian Tams, who is on
Germany's legal team, told the court on Tuesday.

He said no artillery shells and no munitions have been exported to Israel since
October 2023. 

Tams added arms export licenses are assessed case-by-case and exceed
international requirements.

"For every license that is granted, the German government assesses whether there
is a clear risk that the particular item, subject to licensing, would be used in
the commission of genocide, crimes against humanity or great breaches of the
Geneva Convention."

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NICARAGUA ARGUES RISK OF GENOCIDE IS CLEAR 

On Monday, Nicaragua argued that Germany is in breach of the 1948 United Nations
Genocide Convention.

More than 33,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed over
the last six months in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-led
territory. Various UN and other humanitarian aid agencies have warned Gaza is on
the brink of famine.

"There can be no question that Germany [...] was well aware, and is well aware,
of at least the serious risk of genocide being committed," Nicaragua's
ambassador, Carlos Jose Arguello Gomez, told the court.


NICARAGUA TAKES GERMANY TO THE ICJ OVER ARMS SUPPLY TO ISRAEL

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02:33

Nicaragua asked the ICJ to decide "provisional measures" to order Germany 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" and international law.

It also wants the court to order Germany to resume funding to UNRWA in Gaza.

But Germany's Von Uslar-Gleichen told the court that Germany remains the largest
individual donor of humanitarian aid to Palestinians.

"Germany is doing its utmost to live up to its responsibility vis-a-vis both the
Israeli and the Palestinian people," she said.

Her colleague, Tams, said Germany has resumed funding for UNRWA operations, a
fact "ignored by Nicaragua." .


GERMANY FACES GAZA GENOCIDE CHARGE AT TOP UN COURT

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03:03


ISRAEL NOT PARTY TO THE PROCEEDINGS

Germany's legal team argued that the ICJ could not consider Nicaragua's request
for urgent measures, as it has not ruled that Israel is breaching the Genocide
Convention.

"How can it be said that there was a failure to ensure respect of a third state,
if the failure on the part of that third state to respect is not established in
the first place?" another lawyer for Germany, Samuel Wordsworth asked. 

Additionally, he highlighted that Nicaragua did not bring its complaint against
Israel.

"Nicaragua must establish that at least prima facie, the court is able to
exercise jurisdiction, and it cannot do so, given the manifest absence of an
indispensable third party, namely Israel," Wordsworth said. 

Another German lawyer said the case would not help end the conflict. 

"The situation in Gaza is unbearable; too many lives have been destroyed, too
many life plans shattered; we all want this to end, but this type of strategic
legislation between proxies won't bring us closer to this goal," Anne Peters
said.

The court will likely take weeks to deliver its preliminary decision, and the
bigger case could take years to finalize


GERMANY'S COMMITMENT TO SUPPORT ISRAEL

Germany has been one of Israel's staunchest allies in the wake of the Hamas
attacks. 

"Our own history, our responsibility arising from the Holocaust, makes it a
perpetual task for us to stand up for the security of the state of Israel,"
Chancellor Olaf Scholz said days after the attack.

But Berlin has gradually shifted its tone over the last six months, becoming
increasingly critical of the humanitarian situation in Gaza and speaking out
against a ground offensive in Rafah.

lo/ab (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)

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