Nicaragua’s case ‘has a great relevance not just for Gaza’: Human rights lawyer

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) begins a two-day hearing to consider Nicaragua’s request for provisional measures against Germany over its support for Israel’s war on Gaza.

Nicaragua will argue that Germany is violating the 1948 Genocide Convention and the 1949 Geneva Conventions by providing Israel with military aid to use during its war on Gaza.
Last month, Nicaragua also asked the ICJ to issue emergency measures for Berlin to stop funding Israel and reverse its decision to cut support for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).
“By sending military equipment and now defunding UNRWA, which provides essential support to the civilian population, Germany is facilitating the commission of genocide,” Nicaragua said in its filing of the case.

Raymond Murphy, a human rights lawyer and professor of law at the University of Galway, has told Al Jazeera from Ireland that Nicaragua’s case against Germany is “a very important case”.

“It seeks to clarify certain legal issues … At the heart of this case, there are two legal issues – what does the obligation to prevent and to punish the crime of genocide mean and what exactly are the obligations that follow from the Geneva Conventions and Common Article 1 which requires all states to respect and ensure respect for international humanitarian law,” he said.

“The case has great relevance not just for Gaza but also for all the states that manufacture weapons and supply states and other parties with weapons that are ultimately used to commit violations of international law, of humanitarian law, the convention against genocide and a whole host of other international measures that seek to protect civilian and other vulnerable groups,” Murphy added.

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