South Africa has filed a case with the International Court of Justice (ICJ), a UN court, accusing Israel of failing to prevent and prosecute genocide. The case was filed on 29 December and alleges that Israel has failed to prevent genocide and incitement to genocide since 7 October.
The Genocide Convention, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948, is the first human rights treaty. It was established in response to the Holocaust during World War II, in which over six million Jewish people were systematically killed by Nazi Germany. The convention aims to ensure that the atrocities of genocide are never repeated, but cases have emerged since its adoption, including in Rwanda in 1994 and Srebrenica in 1995.
The Genocide Convention consists of 19 articles and provides the first international legal definition of genocide. It also imposes a duty on the 153 states that have ratified or acceded to the convention to prevent and punish the crime of genocide. However, 41 UN member states, including 18 from Africa, 17 from Asia, and 6 from the Americas, have yet to ratify or accede to the convention.
According to Article II of the convention, genocide includes acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. These acts include killing members of the group, causing serious physical or mental harm, subjecting the group to living conditions intended to cause physical destruction, imposing measures to prevent the birth of children within the group, and forcibly transferring children from the group to another group.
Under Article III of the convention, the following acts are punishable: genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide, attempt to commit genocide, and participation in genocide. No one is immune from prosecution for genocide, regardless of their status as constitutional rulers, public officials, or individuals.
Trials for such acts are held in a competent court of the state where the act was committed. Alternatively, they can be tried before an international criminal court that has jurisdiction over any of the contracting parties. This includes the ICJ, which is handling South Africa’s case against Israel.
The ICJ resolves disputes between states and will handle South Africa’s case against Israel for violations of the Genocide Convention. The ICJ can hear cases related to state responsibility for genocide or any other acts listed in Article III of the convention.
Every year on 9 December, the Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect marks the adoption of the Genocide Convention. This day is known as the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime. The UN Secretary-General stresses the importance of upholding the convention and holding perpetrators accountable.