By Alejandra Garcia on June 23, 2024 from Havana
The International Court of Justice (IJC)
On Friday, the Cuban government announced that it will join Nicaragua, Colombia, Libya, Maldives, Egypt, Ireland, Belgium, Turkey, Mexico, Chile and Spain as countries formally joining the lawsuit filed by South Africa before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Israel for the ongoing genocide in Gaza. “We must put an end to the massacre against the people of Palestine,” said Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, through his account on the social network X, shortly after the island made public its decision.
In view of the total impunity with which Israel continues to act, “the government of the Republic of Cuba has decided to intervene in the contentious proceedings initiated by the Republic of South Africa against the State of Israel before the ICJ. The decision was taken in correspondence with the firm and sustained commitment to support and contribute as much as possible to the legitimate international efforts to put an end to the genocide committed against the Palestinian people,” the MINREX statement reads.
Cuba stands with Palestine! photo: Bill Hackwell
We Cubans are watching with deep concern and horror the escalation of Israeli violence in the illegally occupied Palestinian territories that continues without even a pause. The Gaza Health Ministry reported on Thursday that the death toll stands at 37,431 and at least 85,653 people have also been injured in the onslaught, most of them women and children, since the hostilities escalated after October 7, 2023. We must remind ourselves of the thousands of missing Gazans buried beneath the rubble may never be found or counted.
Just today the world got to see the barbaric display of a Palestine man strapped to the hood of a Israeli military jeep like he was some sort of war trophy instead of what he really is; a victim of Zionist torture.
“The Ministry strongly condemns, once again, the killing of civilians, especially women, children and humanitarian workers of the United Nations system, as well as the indiscriminate shelling of the Palestinian civilian population and the destruction of homes, hospitals and civilian infrastructure. Genocide, apartheid, forced displacement and collective punishment have no place in today’s world, nor can they be tolerated by the international community,” the Cuban statement continued.
In December last year, South Africa sued Israel for violating the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. At that time, the Court declared itself competent and accepted South Africa’s claim. And in May, during a hearing at the International Court of Justice, South Africa asked the UN’s highest court to order a halt to the offensive in Rafah as part of its case in The Hague.
“Israel must be stopped. South Africa is before you again today to respectfully request the court to invoke its powers (…) to order a measure to stop Israel,” Adila Hassim, South Africa’s lawyer, said on that occasion.
Despite repeated historical calls for peace, Israel continues a genocide that is not new, dating back 75 years, but now takes on extreme proportions that requires the joint action of the peoples and governments of the world to immediately stop the indiscriminate extermination of girls, boys, women and civilians in general.
Havana, as a member of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, “will make use of its right to present its interpretation of the norms of the Convention that Israel has flagrantly violated with its actions in the illegally occupied Palestinian territory of the Gaza Strip,” MINREX concluded.
Cuba will always be on the side of just causes. Palestine is not alone; the island will never abandon it and we will defend its people until there is peace, justice and respect for the United Nations Charter and International Law prevails.
Source: Resumen Latinoamericano – English