Summary
A Judge of the International Court of Justice who dissented from the Order of 26 January 2024 in South Africa v. Israel (Genocide Convention), voting against the Provisional measures indicated, on the ground that South Africa had not shown even prima facie that Israel’s acts were committed with the necessary Genocidal intent (Dissenting opinion of Judge Sebutinde, Order of 26 January 2024, South Africa v. Israel, PDF p.1, p.17).
Details
- In her dissent she holds the Israel-Palestine dispute is essentially and historically a political one for diplomatic or negotiated settlement and good-faith implementation of Security Council resolutions, not a legal dispute for judicial settlement; the requested measures are not linked to the rights asserted; and the measures indicated are redundant (the first three), unlinked (the fourth, humanitarian assistance, which she says is not a Genocide Convention duty as such) or baseless (the fifth, evidence) (Dissenting opinion of Judge Sebutinde, Order of 26 January 2024, South Africa v. Israel, PDF p.1, p.11-17).
- She joins the majority’s grave concern for the hostages held by Hamas and encourages South Africa to use its influence, from its cordial relationship with Hamas’s leadership as brought to the Court’s attention, to persuade Hamas to release them (PDF p.16-17).
Related pages
Dissenting opinion of Judge Sebutinde, Order of 26 January 2024, South Africa v. Israel, South Africa v. Israel (Genocide Convention), International Court of Justice, Aharon Barak