Israel’s decision to defend itself at the International Court of Justice set up a high-stakes showdown before a panel of judges in the Great Hall of Justice.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) —
Israel could challenge the jurisdiction and seek to have the case thrown out before lawyers start arguing. Other countries that have signed the genocide convention could also apply to make submissions.
IS THE COURT HEARING SIMILAR CASES?
Two other genocide cases are on the busy court’s docket. The case filed by Ukraine shortly after Russia’s invasion accuses Moscow of launching the military operation based on trumped-up claims of genocide and accuses Russia of planning acts of genocide in Ukraine.
Another ongoing case involves Gambia — acting on behalf of Muslim nations — accusing Myanmar of genocide against the Rohingya Muslim minority.
In a past case brought by Bosnia, the court in 2007 ruled that Serbia “violated the obligation to prevent genocide … in respect of the genocide that occurred in Srebrenica in July 1995.” The court declined to order Serbia to pay compensation. Croatia also sued Serbia in 2015, but the world court ruled that Serbia didn’t breach the convention in that case.
ICJ OR ICC?
The Hague calls itself the international city of peace and justice. It is home not only to the ICJ, but to the International Criminal Court, based just a few miles (kilometers) away, near the North Sea coastline.
The two courts have different mandates.
The ICJ, which held its first sitting in 1946 as the world emerged from the carnage of WWII, adjudicates cases between nations. They’re often land and maritime border disputes, as well as disagreements over interpretation of international treaties.
The ICC is much younger. It started work in 2002 with the lofty goal of ending global impunity for atrocities. Unlike the ICJ, it seeks to hold individuals criminally responsible for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The ICC has an ongoing investigation into the Israel-Palestinian conflict, dating back to the last war in Gaza. So far, it has not issued any arrest warrants.
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said last month that an investigation into possible crimes by Hamas militants and Israeli forces “is a priority for my office.”
WHAT ABOUT PAST U.N. CASES?
Two now-defunct U.N. tribunals also held landmark genocide trials.
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia convicted a series of high-ranking Bosnian Serbs, including former President Radovan Karadzic and his military chief Gen. Ratko Mladic, for their roles in the July 1995 massacre of more than 8,000 men and boys in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica.
Both Karadzic and Mladic were given life sentences.
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda convicted a string of leaders involved in the African nation’s 1994 genocide when some 800,000 people, mainly ethnic Tutsis, were slaughtered.
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