Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Governments of Belize, Plurinational State of Bolivia, Republic of Colombia, Republic of Cuba, Republic of Honduras, Malaysia, Republic of Namibia, Republic of Senegal and Republic of South Africa gathered in The Hague in the Netherlands on Friday to announce the formation of “The Hague Group.” The entire document is quoted below, at the end of this posting.
They began by expressing their ongoing grief for “the lives, livelihoods, communities, and cultural heritage lost due to Israel, the occupying power’s genocidal actions in Gaza and the remainder of the Occupied Palestinian Territory against the Palestinian people.”
They quote a raft of decisions of the International Court of Justice, the UN Security Council, the UN General Assembly, and the International Criminal Court holding against Israel in its treatment of the Palestinians. The very continued occupation of the Palestinian Territories (Gaza and the West Bank) has been found illegal by the ICJ. Warrants have been issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Gaza.
The Hague Group notes that these egregious and continued violations are such as to involve all the states in the world, which have an interest in international order — they are “ergo omnes” violations.
These countries therefore pledge to take the following steps:
*They will act on the warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant, comply with their obligations under the Rome Statute that underpins the International Criminal Court (i.e. to arrest these two men where possible), and will implement the provisional measures of the International Court of Justice against Israel for its actions in Gaza.
*They will halt and prevent arms transfers to Israel where there is a clear risk of violations of humanitarian law, human rights law, or genocide, in line with international obligations and ICJ’s 19 July 2024 Advisory Opinion.
*They will forbid the docking of vessels in their jurisdiction if they risk carrying military fuel or weapons to Israel that could facilitate violations of humanitarian law, human rights law, or genocide.
*They will do whatever they can to end to the military occupation of the Palestinian people by Israel and enable the emergence of a Palestinian state.
Ronald Lamola, South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, was represented by his deputy, Alvin Botes, who issued a strong statement fully endorsing The Hague Group Declaration.
He noted the case that South Africa brought against Israel at the International Court of Justice for the violation of the Genocide Convention and the series of preliminary injunctions (“provisional measures”) it sought and received from the court last winter and spring. He observed that despite the ICJ rulings, “Israel refused to abide by them,” and noted that “States supporting Israel sought to undermine the authority of the Court instead of enacting their third-State responsibilities to ensure that Israel meets its legal obligations.”
He was referring primarily but not only to the United States, which routinely thumbs its nose at International Humanitarian Law and its institution except where they serve narrow US political interests.
Botes recalled that on the nineteenth of July 2024 “the International Court of Justice (ICJ) delivered a historic Advisory Opinion on the Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem declaring that Israel’s 57-year-old control over the Palestinian territories is unlawful.”
He pointed out that despite the UNGA endorsement of this ICJ ruling, “Israel continues to sow destruction in Palestine as it seeks to further depopulate Palestinian territories through force and unlawful occupation and its genocidal actions in Palestine.”
Taking off the kid gloves, Botes correctly observed, “countries, most notably those that were at some stage settler colonial regimes themselves and have themselves committed some of the international crimes that Israel is committing today, including the Crime of Genocide, continue to support Israel’s unlawful presence and actions in Palestine.”
BOOM!
Botes notes the irony that it is these nine developing countries that gathered Friday to defend international law and its institutions, since critics have argued that International Humanitarian Law was crafted by the wealthy and powerful countries in ways that often disadvantage the poor or “subaltern” states. He wrote, “It is the proverbial international law subalterns, that is the people and countries that many in the West believed that international law and its courts were established to control, that are at the forefront of building an international legal order that is just and fair.”
He rejected holding some countries to the provisions of International Humanitarian Law but granting others impunity as calculated to fatally undermine these post-World War II institutions. “Enabling Israel to simply ignore decisions of the Courts and the United Nations with no consequence, is negatively impacting the integrity of the international legal order, including the organisations that are mandated to ensure accountability and ending impunity. This is unacceptable and we should not be complicit in Israel’s endeavours to irreparably harm the institutions that were established to build a more peaceful and just world.”
I think one of the things he is implying is that if the United States and some European states are allowed to get away with supporting Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians, then sooner or later Africans and Latin Americans will also be genocided with impunity by actors supported by Washington and Brussels.
Of course, it isn’t just the peoples of the southern hemisphere on whose backs a big red target has been painted by Israel’s genocide impunity. The Irish know a thing or two about being deliberately starved to death, and Sinn Féin National Chairperson Declan Kearney MLA attended the meeting. It will be interesting to see if over time Ireland, Spain and Norway prove willing to join The Hague Group.
“Afro-Latin Hague,” Digital, ChatGPT, Clip2Comic, 2024
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Via Brave New Europe, the Declaration of the Hague Group:
“We, the Representatives from the Governments of Belize, Plurinational State of Bolivia, Republic of Colombia, Republic of Cuba, Republic of Honduras, Malaysia, Republic of Namibia, Republic of Senegal and Republic of South Africa in The Hague, Netherlands, on this 31st day of January 2025, inaugurate The Hague Group,Guided by the purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, and the responsibility of all nations to uphold the inalienable rights, including the right to self-determination, that it enshrines for all peoples,
“Grieving the lives, livelihoods, communities, and cultural heritage lost due to Israel, the occupying power’s genocidal actions in Gaza and the remainder of the Occupied Palestinian Territory against the Palestinian people,
“Refusing to remain passive in the face of such international crimes,
“Determined to uphold our obligations to end the Israeli occupation of the State of Palestine and support the realisation of the inalienable right of the Palestinian People to self-determination, including the right to their independent State of Palestine,
“Recalling
•the orders of the International Court of Justice in the case of South Africa v. Israel of 29 December 2023, which reflect a serious concern about the perpetration of crimes of genocide in Palestine, and noting the significant and diverse number of States that have joined as third States in the case, to demand the condemnation and immediate cessation of the ongoing genocide,.
•the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice of 19 July 2024 on the ‘Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem’,
•and the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice of 9 July 2004 ‘’Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory’’
•the United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/RES/Es-10/24, adopted on 18 September 2024 at the Tenth Emergency Special Session, which endorsed the ICJ’s Advisory Opinion of July 2024, and the commitments of member states to comply with the obligations under international law as reflected in the advisory opinion,
•the International Criminal Court’s issuance on 21 November 2024 of warrants of arrest for indicating “reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant each bear criminal responsibility as civilian superiors for the war crime of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population…the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare…and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts”.
•the order of the International Court of Justice in Nicaragua v. Germany of 30 April 2024 “remind[ing] all States of their international obligations relating to the transfer of arms to parties to an armed conflict, in order to avoid the risk that such arms might be used to violate” the Genocide Convention and the Geneva Conventions in relation to Israel’s conduct in Gaza and the remainder of the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
•the United Nations Security Council Resolution 418 of 4 November 1977, and United Nations Security Council Resolution 591 of 28 November 1986, that “imposed a mandatory arms embargo” against Apartheid South Africa.
•all the relevant resolutions of the Security Council, including resolution 2334 (2016) of 23 December 2016, which reaffirmed that “the establishment by Israel of settlements in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law”;
“Stressing that the legal norms violated by Israel include certain obligations of an erga omnes character that are, by their very nature, the concern of all States and, in view of the importance of the rights involved, all States can be held to have a legal interest in their protection,Emphasizing the need to ensure accountability for the most serious crimes under international law through appropriate, fair and independent investigations and prosecutions at the national or international level, and to ensure justice for all victims and the prevention of future crimes;
“Convinced that collective action through coordinated legal and diplomatic measures at both national and international levels is an urgent imperative to uphold the principles of justice and accountability that form the foundation of the UN Charter,
“Declare our intention to:
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1. Uphold the UN Resolution A/RES/Es-10/24 and support the requests of the International Criminal Court and, in the case of States Parties, comply with our obligations under the Rome Statute, with regards to the warrants issued on 21 November 2024; and implement the provisional measures of the International Court of Justice, issued on 26 January, 28 March, and 24 May 2024.
2. Prevent provision or transfer of arms, munitions and related equipment to Israel, in all cases where there is a clear risk that such arms and related items might be used to commit or facilitate violations of humanitarian law, international human rights law, or the prohibition on genocide, in compliance with our international obligations and consistent with the International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion of 19 July 2024 and the UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/Es-10/24.
3. Prevent the docking of vessels at any port, if applicable, within our territorial jurisdiction, in all cases where there is a clear risk of the vessel being used to carry military fuel and weaponry to Israel, which might be used to commit or facilitate violations of humanitarian law, of international human rights law, and of the prohibition on genocide in Palestine, in keeping with states’ peremptory legal obligation to cooperate towards preventing genocide and other violations of peremptory norms by all legal measures at their disposal.
“We will take further effective measures to end Israeli occupation of the State of Palestine and remove obstacles to the realisation of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, including the right to their independent State of Palestine.
“We invite all states to take all possible actions and policies to end Israel’s occupation of the State of Palestine.
We call on all nations to join us in The Hague Group in the solemn commitment to an international order based on the rule of law and international law, which, together with the principles of justice, is essential for peaceful coexistence and cooperation among States.”
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