The International Court of Justice announced that it had received a request from Mexico to join the genocide case filed by South Africa against Israel against the backdrop of the war in the Gaza Strip.
According to the court’s statement, Mexico requested to join the lawsuit filed by South Africa against Israel regarding violations of the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in 1948.
Mexico’s request was based on Article 63 of the Court’s Statute, which gives other States the right to intervene for the purpose of making a statement on the interpretation of the Convention.
Mexico indicated its wish to present its view on the interpretation of the provisions of the Convention relevant to the case.
At the end of December 2023, South Africa filed a lawsuit against Israel before the International Court of Justice on the grounds that it had violated the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention of Genocide.
The International Court of Justice issued a preliminary ruling in the case in late January, and ordered Israel to take all measures within its authority to prevent acts that could fall under the Genocide Convention. It also ordered Tel Aviv to prevent and punish genocide, and to ensure the flow of aid to Gaza. Preserving evidence regarding crimes committed in the devastated sector.
Since the initial rulings, several countries have come forward to intervene in the case using a clause in the ICJ Statute that allows third parties to join the proceedings if they consider that they have “an interest of a legal nature that may be affected by any decision in the case.”
So far, several countries have submitted requests to join the case, including Türkiye, Libya, Nicaragua, and Colombia.
Nicaragua was the first country to submit an official request to the United Nations Supreme Court on January 23, to obtain permission to intervene as a “party” in the case, as stated in a statement issued by the court on February 8.
Since last October 7, Israel has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip, leaving more than 117,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and about 10,000 missing amid massive destruction and famine that claimed the lives of children and the elderly.
