THE HAGUE, (PIC)
Germany faces charges from Nicaragua at the top UN court on Monday that it is “facilitating the commission of genocide” against Palestinians with its military and political support for Israel.
Nicaragua has hauled Germany before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), demanding judges impose emergency measures to stop Berlin providing Israel with weapons and other assistance.
Germany has hit back at the allegations, with Sebastian Fischer, spokesman for the German foreign ministry, telling reporters ahead of the hearings: “We reject the allegations from Nicaragua.”
“Germany has violated neither the Genocide Convention nor international humanitarian law and we will demonstrate this in full before the International Court of Justice,” added Fischer.
Nicaragua set out its case on Monday, with Germany due to respond the following day.
In a 43-page submission to the court, Nicaragua said that Germany is in breach of the 1948 United Nations Genocide Convention, set up in the wake of the Holocaust.
“By sending military equipment and now defunding UNRWA (UN agency for Palestinian refugees)… Germany is facilitating the commission of genocide,” says the submission.
“Germany’s failure is all the more reprehensible with respect to Israel given that Germany has a self-proclaimed privileged relationship with it, which would enable it to usefully influence its conduct,” added Nicaragua.
Nicaragua asked the ICJ to decide “provisional measures” — emergency orders imposed while the court considers the broader case.
It is “imperative and urgent” the court orders such measures given that the lives of “hundreds of thousands of people” are at stake, runs the Nicaraguan case.
In a separate case, South Africa has accused Israel of perpetrating genocide in the Gaza Strip and filed a case against it at the ICJ.
