2024-03-11 17:20:00
As part of a complaint brought before the International Court of Justice by South Africa once morest Israel, Belgium announced that it would give its interpretation of Article 2 of the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and the repression of the crime of genocide.
In the debate on the risk of genocide of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip by Israel, Belgium has officially decided to make its contribution.
Signatory party to the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Belgium announced through its Minister of Foreign Affairs that it would provide the International Court of Justice in The Hague (ICJ), the UN tribunal responsible for settling disputes between states, its interpretation of genocide.
“It is not a question here of taking sides for or once morest one or the other party, but of strengthening the universality of international conventions,” he said. declared Hadja Lahbib, the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs to the daily Le Soir. “Belgium’s foreign policy must continue to stand out as a fervent defender of respect for international law, it is in this spirit that I request intervention. Because there can be no double standards when it comes to of human life.”
What is the 1948 Genocide Convention?
This convention, article 1 of which defines and codifies the crime of genocide, obliges the States parties to ” take measures “ in order to prevent and suppress it. It specifies that the definition of genocide applies both in times of war and in times of peace, and is today ratified by 153 States, including Israel.
Article 2 of the 1948 Convention defines genocide as acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. Among these acts, the convention lists:
– The murder of group members
– Serious harm to the physical or mental integrity of members of the group
– The intentional subjection of the group to conditions of existence intended to bring regarding its total or partial physical destruction
– Measures aimed at hindering births within the group
– The forced transfer of children from the group to another group.
South Africa’s complaint
Signatory states can refer the matter to the ICJ if they believe that genocide is occurring. On December 29, 2023, Pretoria therefore initiated legal action once morest Israel, which it accused of violating the 1948 Convention.
South Africa calls for “stop killing and causing serious mental and physical harm to the Palestinian people of Gaza, to stop deliberately imposing living conditions on them intended to bring regarding their physical destruction as a group and to allow access to humanitarian assistance ».
The ICJ had studied this complaint for the first time. In her order of January 26, 2024, she called on Israel to do everything possible to prevent any act of genocide once morest the Palestinian people and to improve access to humanitarian aid for the inhabitants of Gaza. In a new request filed on March 6, South Africa requested more emergency measures from the ICJ once morest Israel.
Belgian intervention
It is in this context that Belgium will also give its interpretation of Article 2 of the 1948 Convention. In an article published on January 17, 2024 in the Belgian newspaper La Libre, a collective of international law professors explained why a Belgian intervention before the ICJ would be justified, and why the country might even play a role in it. “crucial role”.
According to them, Belgium, as well as all the signatory states of the convention, “are not only bound by the prohibition of genocide, but also have a “duty to act” as soon as they become aware of the existence of a serious risk that genocide will be committed.”
Furthermore, these funds indicate that “Belgium has always emphasized the importance of protecting the humanitarian infrastructure in Gaza – to prevent hunger and punish violence once morest medical services.”
The experts who signed this forum therefore believe that a “Intervention before the International Court of Justice might have the advantage of highlighting the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe.”
The spotlight on Belgium might also, according to these professors, make it possible to distinguish whether Israel is demonstrating “genocidal intent”. While in its complaint, Pretoria presents a “systematic pattern of dehumanization”Israel invokes military objectives and the right to defend itself.
A symbolic message
The minister also added that Belgium would also intervene in another case of possible genocide once morest the Rohynga minority in Myanmar, which is accused by The Gambia at the ICJ.
According to the daily Le Soir, Belgium’s decision sends above all a symbolic message, that of a country which refuses “to look away from the massacre that continues to take place in Gaza.”
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