“Nicaragua has urged the government of the UK to immediately halt the supply of arms, ammunitions, technology and/or components to Israel as it is plausible they might have been used to facilitate or commit violations of the Genocide Convention.”
By Matt Willgress, Labour Outlook.
In a move welcomed by solidarity campaigners here and internationally, Nicaragua has threatened the British Government with action in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), saying that arms it has provided to Israel may have been used “to facilitate or commit violations of the Genocide Convention” in Gaza, and that their action is a “decision to hold them responsible under international law”.
It has also issued a written warning to Germany, the Netherlands and Canada as part of the same action.
In its communique, Nicaragua said the states were being made aware of its “decision to hold them responsible under international law for gross and systematic violations to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide”.
Welcoming the move here in Britain, Logan Williams of Labour Friends of Progressive Latin America said, “Nicaragua’s actions in show the progressive role played by Latin American nations on the global stage when it comes to opposing the illegal war on Gaza. It joins the actions of Lula in Brazil and a string of others in denouncing the crimes perpetrated in Palestine in all available forums. It shows that whilst we step up our support for the people of Palestine we must also support those breaking from US domination in Latin America, as part of fighting for a fairer future for all.”
Nicaragua’s latest move comes after the International Court of Justice (ICJ), following an action taken by South Africa, found that allegations Israel is perpetrating genocide in Gaza were “plausible.”
Nicaragua was one of several nations along with regional ally Venezuela, plus Turkey, Jordan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Maldives, and Namibia to support South Africa’s case against Israel.
In light of the recent ruling, Nicaragua’s statement goes on to say “If genocide is plausibly occurring in the Gaza Strip in the judgment of the highest world court, it cannot be otherwise in the judgment of the international community that is also dramatically aware of the same facts that led the court to that conclusion.”
Following this it adds that “the obligation to prevent genocide arises and begins when there is a risk of it occurring; in fact, when it is plausible that it is occurring or might occur. This plausibility is now beyond doubt and dispute.
“In that sense, Nicaragua has urged the governments of the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, and Canada to immediately halt the supply of arms, ammunitions, technology and/or components to Israel as it is plausible they might have been used to facilitate or commit violations of the Genocide Convention, including but not limited to acts of genocide, attempted genocide, complicity in genocide and conspiracy to commit genocide.”
Calls to see an end to the UK arming Israel have grown in recent months, with Zarah Sultana leading a debate in Parliament, and an Early Day Motion signed by 77 MPs calling for “the Government to immediately halt all transfers of military equipment and technology, including components, to Israel, and to suspend the issuing of new licences.”
In its aforementioned statement, Nicaragua also pointed to the pulling of funding from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
This issue will also be become a focus point for international campaigners, with the Agency currently leading vital humanitarian aid efforts in Gaza, where Israel’s war has killed more than 27,708 Palestinians.
The ICJ interim ruling also called on Israel to refrain from impeding the delivery of aid into Gaza and improve the humanitarian situation – something it has blatantly ignored since, with aid convoys coming under fire.
As Nicaragua has said, Britain might well be jointly complicit in these crimes and in “flagrant and systemic violations” of the Convention on Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and international humanitarian law in Gaza.
Let’s keep up our campaigning for peace and justice for Palestine in the days, weeks, months and years ahead.
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