The United Nations’ highest court on Tuesday rejected a request from Nicaragua to order Germany to stop supplying arms to Israel.
Judges at the International Court of Justice said no special court order was needed, citing Germany’s arguments that it has strict licensing standards to prevent misuse of weapons and that it has issued few export licenses since late last year.
The judges’ ruling related to a broader case brought by Nicaragua against Germany, with potentially significant implications for whether suppliers of military aid to Israel share some responsibility for how the weapons are used.
However, the judges did not grant Germany’s request to dismiss Nicaragua’s main complaint against Germany, meaning that case is likely to move forward.
Nicaragua argued that Germany was violating the 1948 Genocide Convention because its military and financial aid to Israel facilitates the possible commission of genocide in Gaza.
A final decision on this Nicaraguan claim may have to await the court’s ruling on a separate case brought by South Africa alleging that Israel committed genocide. A decision on the South African complaint could take up to two years.
However, with the growing number of casualties from the Gaza conflict, Nicaragua also asked the ICJ to issue an emergency order for Germany to stop its arms exports to Israel and ensure that weapons already provided are not used illegally.
The majority of the panel rejected the request by a vote of 15 to 1, but the court said in its ruling that it “remains deeply concerned about the catastrophic living conditions of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.”
The decision, signed by the President of the Court, Nawaf Salam, reminds nations of their obligation to avoid providing weapons that could be used to violate the Genocide Convention. “All these obligations fall on Germany as a state party to the said conventions in connection with its supply of arms to Israel,” the decision said.
William Schabas, a law professor at Middlesex University in London, said the warning “provided ammunition for lawyers who will challenge arms deliveries to Israel in domestic courts, as is currently the case in several countries.” “.
The German Foreign Ministry welcomed the court’s decision.
“Germany is not a party to the conflict in the Middle East, quite the contrary: we are working day and night for a two-state solution,” the ministry said in a statement on social media.
The statement added that Germany is also working to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches Gazans and that Hamas is responsible for triggering a “spiral of suffering” in the region, against which it says Israel has the upper hand. right to defend oneself.
Germany and Nicaragua are parties to the 1948 Genocide Convention, which requires them to act to prevent genocide, defined as the attempt to destroy a group not only by killing or causing serious bodily or mental harm, but also by inflicting on him “living conditions calculated to bring about his physical destruction in whole or in part.
Israel has repeatedly denied accusations that it committed genocide in Gaza, arguing that its army worked to preserve civilian lives and that Hamas used civilians as human shields.
Earlier this year, the ICJ ruled in the South African case that the risk of genocide was plausible. The court issued separate interim orders, requested by South Africa, specifying that Israel must prevent its forces in Gaza from taking actions prohibited by the Genocide Convention, must prevent and punish public statements that constitute incitement to the genocide and must allow better access to information. humanitarian aid. The judges also called for the immediate release of all hostages still held by Hamas.
Germany, Israel’s staunch ally, is second only to the United States in providing military assistance. But in presenting its case before the ICJ, it argued that its shipments to Israel are still permitted under German and European rules. Germany’s main argument was that almost all of its recent military aid to Israel was non-lethal aid.
Unlike Germany, which has given full jurisdiction to the ICJ, the United States has protected itself and must consent to a case on most issues. He further shielded himself from the Genocide Convention, signing the convention but explicitly denying the Court’s jurisdiction in this area.
Critics of the Nicaraguan government say the prosecution of Germany for violating international law is hypocritical: A recent UN report Nicaragua has accused Nicaragua of “systematic human rights violations” and increasing repression of government opponents in its country.
Erika Salomon reports contributed.
